Star Attractions
by robbiepoo2341
Summary: Mojo is still holding a grudge over how the ladies of the X-Men refuse to act like damsels in distress. But he can still get entertainment value out of that! If they won't play the part of damsels, then he'll just kidnap their husbands so THEY can be the damsels. It's a perfect plan! Foolproof! Nothing could possibly go wrong!
1. Real Estate in Chicago is Cutthroat

**Welcome back to the 714 Universe! If you're new here, make sure you stop and look at the reading order on my profile, because this is a whole series shebang. If not, you know how this goes. Welcome back, and let's go!**

* * *

**Chapter 1: "Real Estate in Chicago is Cutthroat"**

* * *

As usual, several of the X-Men and friends and family had come back to Westchester for the holidays — not just for Christmas but for birthdays and New Year's fireworks and just generally coming together for one big party for the last year that this would be the only school they were running.

The LA school was very nearly finished — the only thing left, really, was the grounds and a few finishing touches on the security measures.

And as for the Chicago school that Kitty would be running… She had a few different locations in mind, and she sat down at the table with her handful of maps and notations to lay them out with Scott.

"Alright. There are a _few _to pick from? Because there is almost no such thing as open real estate in Chicago," Kitty started out. "But of the four here, I think this one has the best location. It's not entirely isolated, and there are good paths of escape in an 'all else fails' scenario, but … it's also got a view of the lake. And you know that's … really a big deal in Chicago. Of course, the negatives … well. It's not the first time we've been there."

Scott raised an eyebrow at the description. "Let me see," he said, looking over her shoulder at the locations she had marked on her maps.

Kitty twisted her hands as she watched him. "It's kind of, like … from the first time we met."

Scott frowned down at the map for a good long time before he finally let out the breath he was holding. "Well, other than the history, you're right; it's a solid spot," he admitted. "But I want to check it out first. Just… to be sure."

"Oh, absolutely," she agreed, first shaking then nodding her head as she tried to go along with him. "That's why I put in the other three options too. Just in case."

"I do like Site B," he said, tapping the map. "No lake view, but it's got just about everything else."

"Yep, and it's a lot better than Site C, which … is in the old slaughterhouse district. Sorry, but, like I said…. Real estate is hard to come by in Chi-town."

"Right." Scott let out a breath. "Really, it should be fine. We're going to demolish and remodel anyway…"

"Yeah, can't have any _bad karma _attached to any of our locations," Kitty teased.

He shot her a dry look. "Well, if you'd rather just let the thing stand and ignore all the blueprints Forge has been drawing up…"

"That was not what I meant and you know it," Kitty shot back, one finger pointed his way.

Scott smirked and held up both hands. "Just trying to do this right, all things considered," he said. "I'd like these schools to last longer than the other ones we've tried outside of Westchester."

"I know, and I promise to do a better job as headmaster this time out," Kitty said, deflating a little.

"It wasn't a dig," he said. "Not on you," he added, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You're going to be great at this."

"I know," she said with a smirk, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "Less distractions. Less crazy. And no Quentin Quire."

"Not to mention you've done a little growing up since then," he said with a dry smirk.

"Is that your thinly-veiled insinuation that I was immature when Logan let me run the school?"

"Who's thinly-veiled?" he asked, the smirk widening.

She drew herself up in mock horror and hit his arm hard. "Maybe make it thinner then, Fearless."

He chuckled and shook his head at her. "Really, you'll do great. I'm more worried about the fact that Rachel and Bobby are on your staff. Think you can handle them?"

"I did before just fine," she said with a shrug.

"You did before they were…" Scott waved his hand and let the sentence trail off.

"Has it so altered their mental chemistry that they are a danger? Or are they both easier for everyone but you to deal with?"

"Ha ha." Scott rolled his eyes. "I'll head down to Chicago later on. I think Annie wanted to get out of the house anyway. With how many people we're taking on lately, it's been crowded. She could use a night out away from all of it."

"Pizza night it is!" Kitty declared. "Just like old times when Bobby was cooking — minus the part where he pretended to cook."

Scott chuckled at that. "Yeah, don't let him near your kitchen. Let's not burn the place down the second we build it."

"You know," Kitty said quietly, "he isn't a total moron in the kitchen. He just doesn't like to cook for a crowd." she scrunched up her nose. "I thought you knew that."

Scott looked honestly surprised. "This is Bobby we're talking about, right?"

"Robert Drake, yes. That is the guy."

"I've known him since he got his powers, Kitty, and I'm telling you: I've never seen him _cook_."

"And I'm telling you: I dated him for a little while, and the guy can cook."

Scott raised both eyebrows her way and then let out a little laugh. "You'd think I'd have run out of things to be surprised by for how long it's been."

"You're just getting complacent," she laughed.

"I may have been distracted by the fact that he's _dating my daughter_," he pointed out.

"Well, that's your problem, isn't it?" Kitty pointed out.

"You'd be doing the same thing in my shoes."

"Probably," she agreed. "But with more style and more sneak."

Scott smirked. "And Peter?"

"He needs work on the sneak … big time."

"Well, as I understand it, it's easier to be quiet in space," Scott said, the smirk widening.

"Right. Because the trained ninja has noise issues," she teased. "Go on. I've got the kids. You _obviously _need the break. Especially after what had to have been a wearing trip to Japan. _With the kids. _What were you thinking?"

"It was perfectly quiet," Scott promised. "Actually, we spent most of the time at the beach."

"Oh come on," Kitty said, wide-eyed.

"I thought Logan told you: the Yashida clan doesn't have a claim on him anymore," Scott said with a shrug. "Apparently, that makes Japan a passable vacation spot. The kids loved it."

"Yeah, but … really?" She looked shocked by the news.

"Do you _really _think I'd take my kids anywhere I didn't think was safe?" Scott asked, one eyebrow raised.

"No, but … I mean…. He's thought he was in the clear before, and they came after him anyhow."

"We were there for a week, and not a one of us saw a single ninja," Scott said.

She blew out her breath, both eyebrows raised as she crossed her arms. "Maybe he killed them all last time." She grinned at him. "There couldn't be an endless supply, right?"

"You'd think so, but that's not what I've heard," he smirked.

"Really? Not a one?" she asked, her shoulders drooping. "The last time I went, I got possessed."

Scott pulled his arm around her shoulders. "Maybe you should go back. Might be a good idea to have some _good _memories of it."

"No thank you. Just because he's out of it with Yashida does not mean that Ogun wouldn't take a chance again," Kitty pointed out. "That guy makes me feel like I need to wash my soul."

"Yeah, I know the feeling," Scott said with a nod before he pulled her into an honest hug. "Thanks for looking out for the kids. I promise they're only monsters sometimes."

"Hey, we'll have a good time. The other kids are here, and who knows? Maybe it'll get Peter to rethink another one."

"It's worth it, Kitty," he promised as they headed down the hall.

"I tell you what," Kitty called out to him. "Tell me about it after _you _carry them and go through labor."

Scott laughed and held up both hands. "Fair enough," he called back.

* * *

Scott wasn't surprised when he told Annie the plan that she was absolutely on board. Christmas had been particularly exhausting this year, and no matter how many times Annie said that she and her sisters loved to cook for an army, he knew that having so many people in the mansion as well as all the kids from the X-Men starting families had taken its toll.

"I was thinking we'd drive," he said. "Just the two of us."

Annie beamed at him and nodded, wrapping her arms around his shoulders happily. "Oh, yes please. That sounds lovely."

"Kitty's already offered to take care of the kids," Scott said.

"Oh, that's trouble," Annie laughed. "I've seen her Peter with Chloe."

"You should see him with Jubes' twins."

"It's the white hair," she laughed.

Scott grinned as the two of them packed a few things for an overnight stay. They'd be leaving the next morning, but since they were driving and not flying, it was a good idea to have some toothbrushes and such just in case.

"Are you gonna go somewhere _romantic_?" Charlie asked with a little giggle when she caught the two of them packing — and spotted Annie stealing a kiss as they did so.

"We're just going to go see the place that Kitty wants to build her new school," Scott explained, smiling down at the little girl.

"You should go somewhere romantic," Charlie decided.

"We should?" Annie asked, delighted by where Charlie's head was.

"Yeah, you should. Remy and Miss Marie said that it's important to go to romantic places like Paris," she explained, and Scott couldn't help but smirk.

"Remy's been saying that for as long as I've known him," Scott chuckled.

"Well it must be true, because they kiss a _lot_," Charlie reasoned.

Annie raised her eyebrows Scott's way as she addressed Charlie but watched him. "And you think we should kiss more often?"

"Well you sure don't do it as much as Remy and Miss Marie."

Scott laughed out loud at that as he crouched down to ruffle Charlie's curly hair. "Tell you what. I'll take your mom somewhere nice for Valentine's Day. Do you think that's a good idea?" he asked her, grinning over the top of her head at Annie.

"Oooh, yes. That's the perfect day!" Charlie agreed.

Scott just laughed and kissed the top of Charlie's head. "Will you make sure your brothers and sister behave for Kitty while she's watching you guys?"

Charlie nodded enthusiastically. "I'll make sure Chance doesn't get in any fights," she promised.

Annie kissed Charlie's cheek and grinned. "That's my smart little girl."

* * *

"Oh, this is the perfect place for a school," Annie said as they arrived at the spot that Kitty had picked out, smiling especially at the lakeside view as she looked around the area.

Scott nodded quietly, though his focus wasn't on the view but on the building itself. He was surprised that Kitty had picked it out, honestly, because it couldn't have held good memories for her. This was where Emma had held her and several of the X-Men when they first met, after all. _Still, better than a Weapon X facility, _he thought to himself, dryly, remembering Kitty's dig from earlier.

Annie turned from admiring the view to slide her arms around his middle and rest her head against him. "I recognize that look," she said softly. "What's the matter?"

"Just a little history with this place," he said in as offhanded a tone as he could manage. "We're tearing the building down anyway to make the school. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't anything still being used underneath."

"What kind of history?" she asked with a frown. "Should I have brought that Stark gun?"

Scott smirked. "No, I doubt anybody's using this place anymore." He took a deep breath and let it out. "And since Emma Frost was the one running things and Rachel de-powered her—"

"Oh, I hate that woman," Annie said, wrinkling her nose.

Scott chuckled and turned to kiss her. "I doubt she's here. Nobody's heard from her since we faced the Hellfire Club a little while ago."

"Good riddance," Annie sniffed, and Scott chuckled again as he stole another kiss.

"Come on; let's get the nostalgia tour over with so we can just tear it down," Scott said, taking her by the hand as they headed inside.

Of course, as it turned out, Scott needn't have worried. Just from the dustline alone, it was obvious that no one had been in the building for ages. It was completely undisturbed from top to bottom, and Scott found himself letting out a breath that he hadn't realized he was holding as they finally stepped back out into the cool evening air.

Annie let out a little laugh as as she reached over to squeeze his arm. "What were you expecting?"

"This, honestly," he admitted.

"But you had to be sure." He nodded, and she let out a little laugh as she rested her head on his shoulder. "Well, now that you've seen it, let's call Kitty and tell her it's perfect. If _she _likes it, and she's the one who was captured here, I think we can safely say it's a solid choice."

Scott grinned at her as he did just that — and a quick phone call later, Kitty knew to go ahead and make an offer on the property and make arrangements to start building once that went through. With that settled, Scott wrapped an arm around Annie's shoulders as they headed back to the car. "What are you in the mood to eat for dinner?" he asked. "Anything you want."

"Mmm, I'm not sure," Annie admitted. "It's been a while since we've been able to eat somewhere _nice _— just the two of us."

"I'll see what's in the area," he said with a nod as they got to the car, pulling out his phone — though he had only just unlocked the car when he heard a noise behind him. He spun around to face their assailants, but before he could get a good look at any of them, he saw instead the mesh of a net headed their way.

"Annie, get down!" he shouted as he blasted a wide beam through the middle of the net, and Annie ducked, falling flat so that the dangerous, melting net passed over her, still sparking slightly as Scott narrowed his eyes at the sight.

Annie popped back up and went to the glove box to get the pistol she kept there for exactly this kind of emergency as Scott spun to face whoever had thrown the net. He spotted a few larger men but didn't recognize them — though he did recognize their clothing as definitely unearthly.

He heard the sharp rapport of a gun as Annie fired at the guys, and he smirked to himself as he rushed forward, his own optic blasts in play, and heard the invectives that Annie was muttering over and over as she fired.

He blasted one of the big men backward into the other, and when they struggled to get up, reaching for weapons to use against him and Annie, Scott fired off another shot that knocked both of them out — and for good measure, he kicked aside the weapons, crouching down beside one of them to see if he could find anything that would identify who they were or why they had come after him and Annie.

There wasn't anything, as far as he could see. Just a few guys who weren't from Earth, with guns that looked a lot like what Peter Quill's crew used. But no identifying marks from what he could see beyond a tattoo on one of them that didn't correspond to any groups that Scott knew of.

He sat back on his heels, frowning over the mystery he had stumbled into, when he heard Annie shout out.

"Scott!" Annie shouted his way as she saw what he couldn't: the blue portal opening up just behind him.

It hadn't been quite enough time for Scott to react more than to start to stand as the portal had appeared out of nowhere, and before he could turn toward the source of the problem, the woman responsible for the portal had already come through with swords drawn, two of which she hooked underneath Scott's chin, close enough that she drew blood from the base of his jaw.

He froze, halfway holding his breath and angling his head back away from the blades, and he caught Annie's wide-eyed stare from a few feet away.

He realized exactly what was going on when a third arm, this one metal, pulled him back, and with the swords at his throat so close, he had to take each step back with Spiral.

"Tell Mojo I'm not interested—" Scott stopped when Spiral pulled her swords closer and drew a thin line across his neck.

"You're not the main attraction, Cyclops," Spiral whispered in his ear as she took a few more steps backward with him, and they stepped through the portal into a room that didn't have any windows or doors. She shoved him forward, and he spun to fire an optic blast her way…. But she had already disappeared through another portal, and he swore under his breath.


	2. Disappearing Act

**Chapter 2: "Disappearing Act" **

In LA, Jubilee was sitting on top of the _Marvel_, kicking her feet over the edge as she waited for her sweet little alien husband to finish what he was working on.

With the school set to open up this fall, there had been an increase in vandalism, trespassing, that kind of thing. Or, at least, there had been an increase in attempts to do that kind of thing. Noh's security system kept out people with malicious intent, and so far, it had done a pretty spectacular job of making sure that the worst of it was on the gates and the stone walls.

It was kind of fun to watch him work, too, because he would pick up a corner of the school and lift it just slightly enough so he could crawl underneath it — cockroach DNA coming into play as he slid through — and then emerge a little later with a grin and covered in dirt.

Jubilee kicked her feet happily as she watched him slide back out this time, brushing himself off and shaking some of the dirt out of his hair. He was doing stuff like that more often ever since Iron Man had come back with improved nanites for not only Sying but Noh. He just had a little more spring in his step, and he liked to show it off by doing ridiculous things like picking up buildings just to prove he could.

He vaulted up the side of the _Marvel_, which hummed delightedly with both of them sitting on top of it, and kissed her once he was there. He was sweaty and gross, but he was grinning, so she let him kiss her for a while before she pushed him back at the shoulders and shot him a teasing grin. "You smell horrible."

"So does the underside of a building," he pointed out, bending down to steal another kiss as she laughed at him.

"Was that the last of it?" she asked, reaching up to brush some of the dirt out of his shock-white hair.

"I'll want to walk the perimeter one more time before we go home, but beyond that, yes, that is the last of it," he promised, and she grinned at that.

"I don't remember you taking this long when you set up at the mansion."

"Last time, I was building upon what was already in place, not creating an entirely new security system from scratch," he pointed out.

"True enough," she admitted.

He watched her out of the corner of his gaze for a moment before he laughed and scooped her up to kiss her deeply. "Well," he admitted slowly, "I may also be pouring so very much into this system because it is meant to keep our children safe. Sying, Melody, Celeste — if I have my way, they will never see the least bit of trouble."

"You mean until they join the team," Jubilee pointed out.

"You never know," he said with a pretended thoughtful look. "It could be that they choose to stay here with us."

Jubilee laughed at that. "_Our _kids? Be anything _but _X-Men?"

"You're right. How foolish of me to even suggest such a thing," Noh said with a little smirk before he scooped her up that much tighter. "What would you say to a trip down to the beach, my Jubilee? You seem to think I'm in need of a bath anyway."

"Ooh, yes," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck and settling into him. "That sounds perfect."

He grinned at her and peppered her with little kisses as he carried her down to the beach, running right into the waves with her as he fell backward with her still in his arms.

When they came back up out of the water, she shoved him in the shoulder with a laugh. "You goon!"

"I was faced with a choice between bathing alone and taking you with me, and how could I possibly choose solitude when you are here?" he laughed.

She rolled her eyes at him and splashed him with one hand, scooping the water up into his face. "Don't try and sweet talk your way out of trouble, mister."

"Have I ever done such a thing?" he asked, looking and sounding perfectly affronted.

"Only all the time," Jubilee replied, and he just laughed and kissed her all over again, pulling her into the water after a moment.

They played in the waves for a while longer before they finally came out to the beach, grinning and soaking wet and fully-clothed, though Noh was no longer caked in the dirt and grime of working underneath the LA school.

"If you like," Noh said with a crooked sort of smile, "I can get your bathing suit from the _Marvel _so that we can continue our day at the beach without worrying over your outfit."

"You're not even sorry, so don't pretend to be," she shot back, and he laughed as he raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"Then if you don't want to stay, perhaps I could help you dry your hair?" he offered, and she rolled her eyes as she reached over to shove him in the shoulder.

"Oh, go get my suit, you goon."

He grinned at her brilliantly before he was off in a flash, speeding along the shoreline back toward the LA school. It was no time at all before he met his ship, and as he knew exactly where Jubilee's suit was, he had it in hand in a second and was almost out the door again when the ship's lights went from a lighter blue to a deep red.

Noh froze and put a hand to his ship, feeling its distress reverberate through his skin. "What's wrong?" he asked aloud, running his hand along the wall all the way through the run down to the cockpit.

When he arrived, his ship had already pulled up the necessary holograms, and he saw the alien signatures not only near the beach — uncomfortably close to where he had left Jubilee — but the ones closing in on the school.

"Well, that cannot stand," he said under his breath before the _Marvel _opened up its doors to him again — now that she'd told him what the problem was — and he went soaring out of the ship toward the beach.

It was immediately clear that something was wrong when Noh arrived, because the few civilians who had been out on the beach were fleeing, and as Noh approached the spot where he had left his Jubilee, he shouted out in anger when he saw the exact moment that a large man hit her with a dart gun of some kind.

His bracelets responded to his mental commands as quickly as he was able to raise his arm, and he leveled the gun at the man responsible, blasting him back from Jubilee before the man could pick up his prone wife.

He rushed to Jubilee's side, leaving skid marks in the sand where he stopped, and scooped her up to check her over. Her breathing and heart rate seemed to be fine…

He heard the shot from the dart gun from several yards out and spun to avoid it, glad for his enhanced hearing and speed as he locked gazes with the man who had dared to fire at him.

He bounded toward the man in question, a low hiss that he couldn't control splitting the air, and a loud _crack _echoed over the beach once his fist connected with the man's jaw and shattered it. The man fell backward, and Noh hit him one more time for good measure over the head to be sure that he was out for the count before he turned his attention back to Jubilee, who he had carried over his shoulder the entire time, unwilling to put her down when there might be more men waiting for them to be separate to grab her.

He didn't know who these men were. They didn't have MRD uniforms, and their weaponry was not Terran. They were not Shi'ar or Kree or Skrull… they must have been rogues of some other kind, though what that meant for their attempt to capture Jubilee, Noh did not know, and he didn't plan to find out.

He rushed down the beach, headed for the _Marvel_, and he was very nearly there when a blue portal opened nearby, and Noh just barely skidded out of its way to avoid running directly into it. The woman who stepped out of it had six arms and was wielding a sword in each one of them, and had Noh been slower than he was, he would have been badly sliced.

He bared his teeth at the strange woman, and she twirled her swords at him in an obvious challenge, though Noh had no time for this woman, more focused on getting Jubilee out of danger as he sped around her — though he didn't quite reach the _Marvel_ before another portal opened up again, and Noh just barely sidestepped it.

He narrowed his eyes and very gently set Jubilee down. "I think you'll find that it is a poor idea to deter me from taking care of my wife," he said, and the woman just laughed.

"Save it, Kree," she said, twirling the sword that she held in a metal hand.

He simply sneered at her before he darted forward, both guns drawn from his bracelets in one fluid moment, though this woman was quick, ducking and dodging nearly as quickly as Noh could shoot at her and managing to get close enough that he was just as occupied with trying to avoid being sliced open himself as she was with dodging his blows.

The woman was grinning as she tried to press forward, and while Noh didn't allow her to gain even an inch, that didn't seem to bother her in the least. When she finally did manage to get a good hit in that forced Noh to stumble a few steps back, one hand pressed to the freshly bleeding wound on his chest, she threw out a hand, and Noh let out a cry when he realized it wasn't a sword that she was using but that she was instead creating a portal.

He sped toward the portal that had opened up near Jubilee to let through a large man clad in similar clothing for the first two. He was already pulling her through the portal, but that wouldn't stop Noh. Wherever they were taking Jubilee, he wanted to be there, no matter what kind of trouble she was in.

When he passed through the portal, he found himself with the large man in a room with no doors and windows. The man was still holding Jubilee, but that could be quickly remedied. In a flash, Noh had hit the guy solidly enough to stagger him, and he managed to catch Jubilee before she could hit the ground when the man dropped her.

With Jubilee secured, he spun to face the portal — but there was no sign of anything but the four walls and one stunned man.

Furious, Noh spun on his heel and grabbed the man in question by his collar. "What is going on?" he demanded, slamming him against the wall, though before he could get any answers, he heard a sharp hiss and let out a sound to match it when he glanced around to see the blue smoke starting to fill the room.

Noh let out a frustrated noise as he slammed the man into the wall once more — this time simply because he was angry more than anything else — before he threw the man aside and plowed one fist into the wall as deeply as it would go, tearing at the wall, though there was still much more of a lining left, metal beyond what he had managed to get through, before he felt the strength leaving his limbs. He drew back his first and plunged his hand into the wall once more, though before he could pull any more of the wall off, he sank down to the ground alongside Jubilee and the man who had grabbed her.

* * *

Since filming had started on _The Response Division_, the movie Kate's company was producing on the MRD, Kate was spending a little more time in New York on business. She wanted to be there for the director, the cast, the crew…. All of them were facing a lot of heat for the project, but every one of them believed in it, and she wanted to make sure that every one of them knew how much she appreciated it.

Of course, now that filming _had _started, that only meant that the hate mail and everything else that came with it had increased, so Kurt had come with her for her visit to the set. Not that she minded the company.

She tried for the most part to stay out of everyone's way, since the cast and crew had plenty to get done with the interruptions that _weren't _a highly public figure coming to visit. The director was always good for a good chat, and a couple of the secondary actors were genuinely fun people.

Of course, mostly, she just watched the filming, which was fascinating enough on its own, though she had to admit that it was surreal. Because of the film's 'fictional' status, the 'MRD' was replaced with a simple 'Response Division', but the green uniforms and badges were familiar enough that on that particular day of filming, she couldn't help feeling a little unnerved by all the extras in uniforms.

"Perhaps we should have chosen a different day to visit," Kurt suggested when he saw that little glare she was working on, but she shook her head.

"No. No, the whole movie is about these guys and how awful they are. If I can't take a bunch of them in uniform, how am I gonna make it through the rest of the filming?"

"That's the spirit," Kurt said with a little smile, though Kate did notice that he was a bit tense at all of the extras and the uniforms, not just because of the imagery but because with so many strangers around, it was simply more of a security risk than usual.

Kurt watched each man as they filed past to fill the set, and he relaxed substantially once all of them were past and the filming began, and Kate didn't miss the change in his demeanor.

She stood on her toes to steal a kiss from him. "You take such good care of me. You know that?" she whispered to him.

He smiled at her softly and pulled her closer to return the kiss. "Only when you require my help," he teased.

"And don't you forget it. You married a superhero," she said.

"And you married a pirate," he teased.

"Oh yes," she agreed, stepping in that much closer. "That's half the draw."

Kurt chuckled as he tipped her chin up and stole another, longer kiss before the two of them settled back to watch the frankly unsettling "meeting" scene, though it wasn't long before the two of them were curled up in a corner talking about their plans rather than watching the weirdness of a few dozen uniformed people pretending to be super evil MRD guys.

"I told Kitty she could totally take over my office, seeing as I'm doing most of my work here in the city anyway," Kate said in a low whisper to Kurt. "She and Storm have _stacks _of applications to get through. I don't envy them."

"Yes, I have seen them and Scott lugging around all that paperwork," Kurt agreed, then smirked at her and leaned forward to kiss her. "It's almost nostalgic. You did the same when you took over my room not too many years ago."

"You _asked _me to move in."

"That's not how I remember it," he teased. "As I remember it, you simply never left after we returned from our worldwide trip with my best friend."

"Same thing."

He chuckled and shook his head at her, resting his chin on her shoulder so that he could reach her better to plant little kisses as she pulled out her phone and checked a few emails. When she finished what she was working on, he leaned over to kiss her again. "I'm glad for your success, _liebchen_, but I admit, I miss seeing you at your desk with a pen between your teeth."

"Well, if you miss it, I could always bring a little paperwork from the _school _stuff back to the desk in our suite," she teased. "You know Bobby's been handling the accounting for us, but I still like to read through the reports so I know what I'm helping to pay for."

"Warren has said something similar," Kurt said with a smile, still watching her closely and smiling softly.

"Yes, well, us rich snobs like to act alike so we make sure to check off all the stereotypes," Kate said with a dramatic little sniff.

He chuckled at her and leaned over to kiss her again. "Of course."

She just grinned, and the two of them fell silent while the director gave the 'MRD agents' extras a few directions and ran the scene again. "It's weird to see that from the outside and not directed at us," she said.

"Yes, it is a bit disquieting."

"Hopefully that translates on the screen," Kate said with an attempt at humor as she leaned over to kiss Kurt's cheek. "That's the whole point of movies like this. Make people uncomfortable, expose the truth—"

"Stir up trouble," he teased.

"I'm pretty sure I've told you once or twice how I feel about trouble."

"You might have mentioned it, yes," he laughed, still with his chin on her shoulder as he smiled up at her.

"Only the same day we met," she said easily before she stole a long kiss.

For the rest of the morning, things went about like that. Kate and Kurt watched the filming for a little while, and a few people from the cast and crew stopped to say hello, but after a while, it was tiring talking to people in MRD uniforms — or the film equivalent thereof — all morning, so they decided to go somewhere totally different for lunch.

Which was how they ended up in a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant in the middle of the Alps, with Kate's earmuffs pressed firmly over her ears and Kurt grinning at her crookedly for the bundled-up look.

"I think you just pick these places so we have to huddle for warmth," she accused him.

"_Lächerlich_," he chuckled even as she leaned into him and hid her bright red nose in the fur on his neck and he laughed even harder when she glared at him.

Still, they had hot cocoa, so it wasn't too horrible, and it was nice to get out just the two of them — not for Bishop Publishing business or for X-Men business or school business. Annie and Scott had the right idea — though Kate expected them to be home by the time she and Kurt got back. After all, she was pretty sure the boss man would explode if he went on more than just an overnight trip right now with everything going on with sorting applications and trying to house so many mutants and just… everything.

"Do you think we'll get to do this more or less often once we get Chicago and LA going?" Kate asked as she snuggled into Kurt's side with a little sigh. "Fewer babysitters… but fewer students…"

Kurt shrugged lightly. "You know you only have to ask for a dinner anywhere in the world…" He trailed off and left the sentence with a teasing smile.

"True," she had to admit as she leaned against him. "I guess with so much going on, I keep forgetting to take a breath."

"I can help with that too," he teased, pulling her that much tighter as she laughed and snuggled right back into him.

They stayed in their corner booth in the little cafe until their cocoas were finished before they decided to pick up some chocolates for the kids — since they both knew that the elflings would stage an uprising if they heard that their parents had gone to the Alps and _hadn't _brought back something for them. Kate wrapped herself up tighter in her long coat, gloves, and earmuffs, which Kurt readjusted with a little smile and the tip of his tail before they headed out together.

There was a cute little sweets shop that the girls _adored _that always had a few brightly-colored and elfling-sized lollipops. They'd have to get one for Krissy to share with Elin and for Kari to share with James, of course — since, naturally, the little Wagners had their favorites in the Howlett clan. And Kate wanted to get something for Kamala's little boy, just because.

She paused in front of a display of candies sorted by color and grinned. "Oh, we have to get the Romanoffs some purple sweets," she told no one in particular as she started to fill up bags of sweets — apparently buying for just about everyone now, not that this was anything new.

Kurt laughed as he leaned his chin on her shoulder. "We're making a few stops on our way home, I see," he said.

"Oh, stop looking at me like that. You knew this about me when you married me," she said, pushing his shoulder lightly as he simply grinned at her and shook his head at her antics.

Once Kate had finally stopped getting distracted by all the things she wanted to get for every one of the little ones they knew, they took a moment to make sure everything was separated by which families' little ones went where, though Kate blinked heavily a few times, starting to feel tired.

"I swear to you, Kurt, this had better just be a stress headache, because if I start to lose my eyesight in my elder years, I am gonna be _mad_," she muttered as she pressed her fingers to a spot on her forehead as she found it hard to concentrate on the little candies.

"It must be overwork," Kurt assured her gently, though he too was starting to feel tired. With a little frown, he tried to teleport out of the sweets shop and its heavily sugared perfumes — though when he couldn't do that, he knew it wasn't just stress. "There's a dampening field somewhere," he told Kate in a low tone over her shoulder, and she nodded, immediately straightening to look for the source of the problem. Though, again, that was hard when both of them were having a hard time concentrating right.

With the candy set down and forgotten, the two of them cautiously made their way toward the door, feeling frustratingly sluggish as Kate swore under her breath when they found — unsurprisingly — that the main exit was locked. And the sweet old man who had been behind the counter… she stood on her toes to peer over the edge to find that he had already succumbed to whatever was going on and was asleep in his seat.

Kurt put his shoulder to the door to try and get it open as Kate pulled out her cell phone — if nothing else to let someone know where they were, since it wasn't like anyone _knew _they'd gone to the Alps. Though she'd no sooner put in Jubilee's contact info than the phone slipped out of her hand and she fell unconscious.


	3. Let's Make a Deal

**Chapter 3: "Let's Make a Deal"**

Things were getting wild at the mansion. There were … a _lot _of small kids, and they were enjoying themselves, but still … even Chance was starting to look for his father more than he was flirting with Elin, and that was certainly a warning sign that something was up.

Logan didn't say anything about the little guy's vigilance, though if he was being honest with himself, he was starting to do the same thing … checking his phone from time to time to see where the flamin' hell the text was that would tell him when Scott and Annie would be back. It wasn't that he'd hold it against them if they took a few days — Lord knows that he and K had done exactly that plenty of times— but … it wasn't like Scott to be out of contact like this. It wasn't something that he was capable of doing.

And unfortunately, for as understaffed as they were at that precise moment, there wasn't much that Logan could do about it. Outside of start to get that heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach when something was just … _wrong._

More new students had been coming in, and although most of them knew to steer clear of the Howlett clan, it didn't stop the ones that were more comfortable with them from asking the kinds of questions that made Logan very happy that he wasn't in charge of things. Though, of course, they had to get their answers from Kitty instead. In exchange, she was sending the little ones to Logan. She figured that since he refused to step up and run things on the school side, he could at least entertain the tiny tot sector.

Which meant he had Chance looking for his dad — and Charlie watching _Logan_.

"So, are you gonna go after him, or are you with us this time?" she asked after a long moment of kicking her feet and watching him.

Logan fixed her with an appraising look for a moment. "What makes you think he needs my help?"

"Well," she said in a perfectly matter-of-fact tone, "Dad doesn't _do _late. And he doesn't _disappear_. Mom neither."

He had to smirk at her for that. "No, they don't, do they?"

"Nope." She shook her head and leaned in. "I told them they needed more kisses, though. Do you think that's where they are?"

"Think you could tell your big sister I wanna talk to her?" Logan asked.

Charlie nodded happily and slid out of her chair to go find Rachel. "Okay, but if she's getting kisses, I'm gonna throw you at a bus."

"You do that," Logan said, nodding. "Get all your little friends to help you too, cause you're gonna need it, punkin'."

"I'll just ask Rachel, 'cause she can pick up anybody without touching them," she called back at him as she headed off to go find the big sister in question.

"I could help," Sying said with a crooked sort of grin. "I'm getting stronger all the time!"

"You are," Logan agreed, though all he could do was ruffle his hair, seeing as Sadie was sleeping on him. "Everyone'll have to watch out when you get a little bit bigger."

"Nu-uh. I'm really careful," Sying promised, wide-eyed and sincere about it.

"So I _don't _need to worry about you throwin' me in at a bus then?"

Sying giggled. "No… not unless Rachel can't do it by herself," he corrected himself, grinning crookedly up at Logan with a twinkle in his eyes like his mom's.

"You're just like your mother," Logan growled out low.

"Thank you very much!" he replied, grinning even wider and moving his head side to side with every word to emphasize it.

It wasn't long before Charlie arrived back where the group had gathered, Rachel's hand in hers and a proud little grin on. "Don't worry; she wasn't kissing my future big brother, so no buses today!" Charlie announced, which got a dry look from Rachel and giggles from a few of the kids.

Logan shook his head at her. "Doesn't bother me if she's kissin' him," Logan pointed out before he turned to Rachel. "Don't suppose you could tell your sister that Scott's alright, could you?"

Rachel nodded at Logan before she crouched down by Charlie. "Don't worry. Dad'll be fine," she said, though as Charlie gave her an appraising look, she was sure to project to Logan, _I've been looking with Cerebro since this morning. _

_Perfect, _he grumbled to himself more than anything. _Too many kids to go looking without a lead._

Rachel got back to her feet. _I'll keep searching and let you know _when _I find him. _She paused. _You haven't heard from Kate or Kurt, have you? I can't find them with Cerebro either. _

_What are the chances that this _isn't _tied together? _Logan replied, though he was tickling Charlie one-handed to keep her from worrying too much.

_Slim to none, _Rachel admitted.

_They're trying to kill me_, Logan teased.

Rachel smirked his way. _Oh please. If Dad was going to do that, he wouldn't be subtle about it, _she teased right back.

_Leaving me with a flock of Summers is subtle?_

_Oh, you love it. Don't try and lie to _me.

_It's a little much with the Wagners and Jubes' little monsters too. _

_They're not back yet? _Rachel turned to him with one eyebrow raised.

Logan shook his head slowly. _Add it to the pile. _

Rachel barely resisted the urge to rub her temples. _Alright. Well. If you need me, clearly, I'll be spending all my free time downstairs doing a grid search. _

_Do you even know where to start for Kurt?_

_They were _supposed _to be at the film set, so I'm starting there. But knowing the two of them? _She shook her head.

_They're not. I'd be surprised if they were. _

_And with Jubilee and Noh in LA… My dad and Annie in Chicago… _

_It's just a simple matter of searching the whole damn country. _

_Yeah. _She shook her head and then reached over to ruffle Charlie's hair. "I gotta get back to work, but you don't mind staying with Logan for a little while longer, right?"

"No, I don't mind," Charlie promised.

"Oh, don't lie now," Logan growled, just to rile her up a little bit.

True to form, Charlie turned his way with her chin thrust out. "I didn't _lie_, and you know it, because you can smell it, so don't lie about lying, so there!"

"Well, somethin's makin' you stink," he countered, one eyebrow raised.

"Is it 'cause I'm all sweaty? 'Cause Chance and Cody ganged up on me in tag…"

"Nope, that's not it," he said, starting toward where the other kids were.

Charlie scrunched up her nose as she thought about it. "Maybe... " She leaned forward. "Maybe I'm still a _little _bit worried about Dad and Mom," she admitted.

"There it is," Logan agreed. "Knew it was somethin'."

"Well, you and Rachel were thought-talking. I know you _were, _and grown-ups only do that when they don't want us to _know _things," Charlie insisted.

"That's true," Logan admitted.

Charlie put both hands on her hips as she sized Logan up. "Are my parents in trouble?" she asked him outright. "You can tell me. I won't tell anybody littler than me."

"Don't know yet," Logan told her. "We'll figure it out, and if they are, I'll fix it."

"Like you always do," she said with a little nod and a crooked smirk.

He smirked at that and pulled her a little closer. "So whatcha worried about, kiddo?"

"Well, just 'cause you fix it doesn't mean it didn't happen," she explained reasonably. "Like Krissy getting teased."

"Kinda does," he countered, frowning.

"Nuh-uh. _I _like it when things just _don't _happen," Charlie said. "Everybody's sad for a while when things do."

He nodded her way and had to agree with her. "Can't stop things from happenin'. All we can do is fix it when it does."

Charlie let out a little sigh. "That's a really big job."

"It's what we gotta do," he told her. "But I think Kitty wanted to watch some movies. Unless you're all gonna dogpile on me again and come up with some rotten little excuse for it."

Charlie sized him up and then grinned at him. "No. No dogpile today. Maybe tomorrow," she said cheerfully.

It wasn't hard at all for Logan to direct the kids toward Kitty and Peter, who looked as if he was having a _ball _with the games that the kids wanted to play with him. It probably didn't help at all that Elin was recruiting all of the girls to attack him with kisses.

"I'm under attack! Kitty, save me!" Quill called out under the pile of grinning kids.

"NO!" the girls called out almost in a chorus, doing all they could to push him down.

"He's our prisoner!" Krissy giggled.

"We winned fair and square!" Kari agreed, nodding along fervently.

"Yeah, I've been defeated," Peter agreed, pretending to lie dead for a moment before he picked his head up and looked around the room. "But you know who hasn't been defeated? My _favorite _and _most cunning _and _dangerous _evil minion — Chance!"

Elin fell apart laughing. "He's not _evil._" She shook her head and rolled her eyes at him. "Everyone knows that."

He leaned in close with a grin. "I know, but I'm not evil either, right? We're just pretending."

She narrowed her eyes at him for just a moment before she nodded. "Alright, but he's not going to like being the bad guy." She turned toward Chance and called out to him. "Peterquill says you're his bad guy minion," she sang out.

"Aww, do I have to be?" Chance asked with a frown.

"Nope," Elin sang out, abandoning the group still picking on Quill to go over to Chance. "Wanna share some popcorn? Mom said we could watch movies with Kitty."

The little boy broke into a huge grin. "Yes! That sounds really fun."

The two of them headed off to get their popcorn and settle in. Chance was quick to suggest sharing a blanket too, because they had to be close to share the popcorn, and by the time that Kitty actually started the movie up, the two of them were curled up in a big puffy chair with a bowl of popcorn and a bad case of the giggles.

Logan and K headed out shortly after Rachel joined the group, looking worn out and in need of a break, though the smallest among them seemed excited to cuddle up to her almost as much as they were mobbing Quill.

And Kitty was swearing up and down that she wasn't going to let the kids get _too_ cozy. "You know. No engagements before third grade," she teased.

"Which is a hardship for some of them," Rachel said with a smirk.

"Not too concerned," Logan chuckled. "She'll probably take after her mom on that front anyhow."

"Well then on behalf of my little brother... " Rachel smirked his way. _There should be a threat about a shotgun, I'm sure. _

_Your brother better hope not, _Logan countered.

_As I understand it, it works in reverse on the women in your family, _she shot right back.

_I don't recall a shotgun, _Logan replied with a smirk. _Unless that was something that they did behind my back. _

Rachel smirked. _It was metaphorical, _she said.

_Mighta worked quicker if it was real. _

_And risk giving my dad ideas? _she teased.

_Let me know if you need me,_ Logan told her.

_With the kids now, or the shotgun down the line? _she laughed.

_We'll be upstairs either way, _he answered as the two ferals disappeared toward the staircase.

The two of them were barely settled into their room, both of them curled up on the bed and just starting to share their theories on what was going on when they were very rudely interrupted. The blue portal that opened up in the middle of the room was familiar to Logan at least, as was the multi-armed woman who stepped through, though her body language read that she wasn't angling for a fight — yet.

But it didn't stop the two of them from taking a ready position without a word spoken between them. "What do you want, and where the hell are they?" Logan asked, his hackles raised and teeth bared.

"Why don't I answer both questions at once?" Spiral asked easily. "The answer's the same: I want you to come after them."

"Why?" K asked, just as ready to start it up as Logan was.

Spiral shrugged lightly. "That's what I was sent to tell you," she said. "And you two are needed by my master."

"For what?" Logan asked.

"For what you do best," she replied with a little smirk. "A spectacular fight."

"I disagree with that assessment," K deadpanned. "He does other things better."

Spiral shrugged her way. "Agree or disagree, there _will_ be a fight."

"And if we refuse?" K asked. "Pretty sure our friends are sly enough to get loose without us. They've proven that before."

"And we've proven that we can pluck you from anyplace," Spiral countered. She folded two arms. "But if we lose our attractions, my master may cancel the show… and you don't want him to do that."

"Your _attractions _…." Logan looked a few steps beyond murderous. "They aren't _his attractions." _

"No?" She raised an eyebrow Logan's way.

K tipped her head Logan's way. "And he's mine. So. Shows how wrong you are."

Spiral narrowed her eyes at both of them. "You can come with me now, or you can make me come back, and if I'm forced to do _that … _I can't guarantee that all of your friends will be alive when you get there. The little brunette is only the warm-up act."

Both Logan and K shared a quick glance. "I don't think Scott would like you talking about him like that," Logan muttered.

Spiral smirked Logan's way. "Can't we just do this like civilized people?"

"That ship sailed when you started kidnapping them," Logan pointed out before he narrowed his eyes. "I thought you were free of him?"

Spiral laughed lightly. "I thought so too, once."

"Do you need a lawyer?" K asked with a wicked smirk. "I have an excellent record if you can just … drop me right in front of him."

"Be my guest. _After _the show," Spiral said.

"You're just making this harder on yourself," K pointed out as she pulled out her cell phone.

"And you're wasting time arguing with me when your friends have been gone… how long has it been for some of them? Two days at least." Spiral glared at the phone.

K held the phone up for just a moment and snapped her picture. K gave her a dry, tight smile before she sent it to the first person on her chat and then tossed it on the bed as Logan put his arm around her waist to keep her close, knowing that it was just a matter of time.

"Any negotiations on this?" Logan asked.

"It's simple enough," Spiral said as she opened a blue portal. "The fights are winner-take-all. Any fight you lose, you lose whoever's at stake."

"And it's just those six?" Logan asked.

"Those are the players," Spiral said with a nod.

"He's gotta stop this crap," Logan told her with a threatening growl. "None of us signed up for this. We don't owe him anything."

Spiral pressed her lips into a thin line as she stepped back from the portal and waved toward it. "You first."

He glared hard at her, but he didn't let go of his grip on K as the two of them headed toward the portal.

* * *

America _had _been sound asleep after a rough day of butt-kicking and interdimensional travel when her phone went off with a loud _ding_. She'd forgotten to put it on silent for the night.

_Should've known better. Billy has this number_, she thought, bleary-eyed as she reached out from underneath Lucy's arms where they were tangled up asleep so she could grab her phone and look — just in case it was an emergency.

And… it looked… like it might have been?

"What the heck is that?" she muttered to herself at the picture of the six-armed woman that K had sent her. "And why are you sending it to me?"

Beside her, Lucy stirred the slightest bit. "Who are you talking to?"

America let out a sigh and then pulled back the covers, brushing Lucy's hair back from her face. "I've gotta go deal with this, sorry."

Lucy tiredly nodded, curling into the space where America had been to take advantage of the body heat against the January chill. "How long?"

"I don't even know. I don't think I've fought this thing before," she admitted.

"Then I won't wait up for you," Lucy decided, her eyes already drifting shut, and America nodded her agreement with a little smirk before she headed out.

Obviously, the first place to check would be the mansion itself, since that was clearly where the picture had been taken. She took off toward Westchester, flying rather than taking a star since, well, she was still tired. And she was pretty fast anyway.

When she arrived at the school, Bobby greeted her insistent knocking, though America was surprised to see that there wasn't the usual crazy mess that accompanied the kind of call for help from _K_ that would go with strange six-armed ladies.

"Okay, what's the joke?" she asked, holding up her phone. "I bust my butt coming here, and the mansion isn't under attack?"

"Oh…. _Crap_," Bobby said, frowning at the picture. "When … did that get to you?"

"About twenty minutes ago, give or take. I was sleeping?" She shook out her hair, prepared to be annoyed until she paused long enough to see the look on his face. "Why?"

He turned his head and very pointedly closed his eyes, reaching out for Rachel. _We have a problem._ "That is Spiral," he told America.

_No kidding_, Rachel's response came a moment later, even as America was saying, "That literally tells me nothing about anything, Iceboy."

"You remember that ridiculous dangerous dress-up show when K and Kate were subjected to being damsels in distress?" Bobby asked before he tipped his head. "Longshot showed me clips."

"I just got them from my favorite dealer of all things interdimensional and hilarious," America said. "His name's Arnold."

"Well, the creep that arranges that crap, he… that gray-haired, six-armed psycho is his agent. Kind of."

"And K sent me her picture, what, as a warning?" America asked.

"So someone would know what happened to them," Rachel said as she joined the two of them. "They're not here."

America swore under her breath at the pronouncement and then shook out her hair. "Right. Well, I don't know where this creep lives, but I can start looking," she said, already rolling up her sleeves.

"That's just it," Rachel said. "He could be anywhere in dozens of different dimensions or hundreds of different planets. And that's no guarantee that they'll all be in the same spot." _Kate, Kurt, Jubes, Noh, and my Dad and Annie are _all _gone, _Rachel projected.

"Have we met? America Chavez? Interdimensional traveler?" America said. "We'll find them. I'll talk to my guy…. You guys don't mind a trip to a dimension where everything lives in patterns of light and fractured memories, do you?"

"The problem is that we have _all _the kids here," Rachel said. "Unless we pull in Annie's sister to help … I don't know … we need more responsible adults."

"So Billy and Teddy are out?" America said with a smirk. "What about the Avengers? Aren't you all on speaking terms now?"

"You want to discount Billy and Teddy and then suggest Avengers instead?" Rachel pointed out.

America chuckled. "Well, you said responsible adults. And the Avengers at least have Pepper and Natasha with them."

"Get who you can. I'll get what we need to deal with Mojo," Rachel promised.

"On it," America agreed, already taking off again. "Text me if you find out anything new, would you?"

_I'm a step above texting, Miss America_, Rachel projected with a smirk.

_I may not be in your dimension, Miss Summers, _America countered, grinning.

"Fair point."

America grinned. "I'll be back with _semi_-responsible adults in no time!" she called over her shoulder — and with that, she was off to Avenger's Tower… with maybe a stop at Billy's place and her own apartment to rope in Lucy as well.


	4. Frostbite

**Chapter 4: "Frostbite"" **

Two days ago, Annie had watched a six-armed woman walk off with her husband, only for that same woman to show up a moment later to pull her into a room as well, this one with a strange sort of setup. There were no doors and just one window that took up the better part of an entire wall, and of the four walls, this was the only one that she couldn't touch, not with the electric current running through it with an obvious _hum _that she could hear from as far as a foot away.

At first, Annie hadn't understood the setup, not entirely. She could see Scott on the other side of the window, at first unconscious and gassed and then, after a few men arrived, tied to a chair but otherwise unharmed. So, she tried to get his attention — but after a few minutes of hollering and waving, it was painfully clear that she was the only one who could see him; it wasn't two-way.

And then when a blue portal had opened in the room to admit a familiar blonde, Annie found out that the sound from the other room had been wired so that she could hear every word from the other side of the glass…. And she wasn't happy about it in the least.

Emma paused and let out a scoffing sort of a breath, one hand on her hip as she looked at Scott. "Well, I wasn't sure before, but now I'm certain that this must be torture."

Scott tipped his head back so he could see her and narrowed his eyes. "No kidding."

"Well, aren't you a sassy little thing all of a sudden," Emma said, with an almost proud smile. "Took you quite long enough, didn't it?"

Scott glared her way in answer. "Pretty sure you just weren't listening."

"Scott, don't act like I wasn't the one to pay attention," she said, sounding almost bored. "I did everything I could for you. You were just … faithless."

"Did Spiral bring you here just to drudge up the past?" Scott asked as he tipped his head further back to rest it as best he could. "That doesn't exactly sound like Mojo."

"I really don't know why that creature brought me here," Emma said, sitting across from him and leaning back in her chair with her arms crossed. "I just hope it's not some ridiculous _love _story. I'd have to kill you with my bare hands."

"Oh God, no."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You know, you act as if you weren't the one that was going after me," Emma said. "You sought me out. A bit of a stand-in for the emotionally frozen Phoenix. Funny how that worked out."

"That's not how I remember it," Scott said with a glare.

"Oh, I suppose you like to see yourself as some little victim, fallen prey to the big bad White Queen?" Emma let out a little laugh. "Of course you do. Always the victim."

"That's not—" He let out a noise of frustration.

"Tell me," Emma said, leaning toward him. "If Jean were to show up today, how long would it take you to drop your little _hausfrau_? Because by my count, you had _just _told me how much you loved _me _when you suddenly forgot I existed on Jean's reappearance."

Scott stared at her openly. "That…".

"Is exactly what happened," Emma said, giving him a pointed look. "It's not every relationship that can handle the test of the dead redhead resurrected from the grave. Though I'm sure Allison or whatever her name is would think she'd win _that _little test too."

"Annie," Scott said sharply.

"Like it matters," Emma said with a wave. "You know she's on borrowed time anyhow. Anyone that signs up for that little disaster is."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Of course I do, darling," she replied in her most condescending tone. "I only survived by my wits and my diamond form."

"And getting everyone else to take the fall for you," Scott snapped back.

"Oh. Like who?" she challenged.

"Do you want the list alphabetically or chronologically?"

"Any list at all would do," she shot back. "Leaving off, of course, villains that actually meant you harm."

"Before or after you were in with them?"

She smirked at him for a few moments. "Technically, I suppose it would have to be after, since in your little narrative, I was always evil."

"Hard not to see it that way when the last time I saw you, you were back with the Hellfire Club coming after my daughter," he pointed out with narrowed eyes.

Her expression shifted to something akin to innocence, though she certainly couldn't pull that one off entirely, particularly with the flash of anger behind her eyes at the mention of Rachel. "I was not under my own control," she said patiently. "Not entirely."

"Funny. The way Rachel explained it, the guy giving out the orders answered to _you_."

She bristled for an instant then waved it off just as quickly. "Potato- potahto."

He smirked at that and shrugged as best he was able, doing his best to ignore her from there.

A sly smile started to build on Emma's face. "You're getting better at this, you know," she said.

"At what — ignoring you?"

"You really think you can ignore _me_?" Emma said, getting to her feet and crossing the short span quickly before she bent at the waist to look him in the eyes. She smirked and gave him a wicked smile as she traced a finger around the edge of his eye from the eyebrow. "Oh. Look at that. Something else that Jean never could do."

"Yeah, and I'll bet you wish you had _anything _to do with it," he shot back with his chin up.

"I did, from time to time, turn them off for you, if you recall. I always wonder why she never allowed you that for more than a few moments."

Scott narrowed his eyes. "Back off, Emma," he said in a low tone.

"Oooh, so eloquent," she said before she climbed onto his lap and draped her arms around his neck. "What are you planning to do to stop me? Invoke your evil redhead? Should I be aware of symbols on the floor of a flaming pain?"

Scott pulled back from her as much as he could, looking furious. "_She _was never evil."

"Dark Phoenix meant nothing then? Destroyer of entire galaxies? No. Doesn't sound evil one bit."

"And you did so much better when you had the Phoenix. It was just a portion, wasn't it? And you were forcing millions to worship you."

"And you killed your mentor. Whose actions had a more negative impact?"

Scott was almost holding his breath for a long moment. "It was the Phoenix," he said at last.

"Yes, well. We all used our power for something. I used mine to feel loved. Something that I was severely lacking. You used yours to kill."

Scott shook his head. "I'd never — not in my right mind—"

"Perhaps we should compare some of the other X-Men's experiences while playing host to the Phoenix…."

"What do you care anyway?" he snapped back.

"I can't stand this little white picket fence _lie _that you are telling yourself and those that you claim to love," she said just over a breath of a whisper in his ear. "I need to remind you of what you really are."

For a long moment, he gritted his teeth before he finally answered. "You don't get a say in it anymore, Emma," he told her.

"No, I suppose you'd think that. Just another notch in your bedpost while you wait for Miss Grey to return, Mr. Summers."

"You're wrong," he said, a little louder. "That's just not what's happening here."

"Are you telling me you don't dream about her anymore?" Emma challenged.

"I'm telling you I'm _happy _right where I am," he said, though it didn't quite have the heat that he wanted it to.

Emma smiled. "That's not an answer to my question. Not that I need to know. Every woman you've ever claimed to love has always been a placeholder. And you say _I'm the bad one._" She arched one eyebrow up, smirking to herself at the expression on his face. She once again tipped her head to the side and ran a finger down his jawline. "You still didn't answer me though, darling. You know I hate waiting."

"Must be so hard for you not to have answers instead of pulling them out of my head," he said in a breath of a whisper.

"Obviously, I don't need my abilities to get into your head. I was only going to ask if she was alone in those dreams or if she had company," Emma replied with a sneer. "That is _always _how that boring old story plays out. Dreamland or reality."

"It's none of your business either way," Scott shot back. "Never was."

"Oh, I seem to have hit a nerve. Pity."

He glared at her. "Get off."

"What's in it for me?" Just because he couldn't get out of it, she tipped her head back and started to run her hand through his hair. "More glares and locked jaw non-answers? I don't think so."

He closed his eyes and tried to soften his tone. "Emma."

"Yes?" She was totally unphased by his response to her.

"Emma," he tried again in a controlled tone. "Please, give me some space."

She smirked to herself. "Since you asked so nicely," she replied before simply disappearing off of his lap as she stretched out her legs and walked a small circle around the room.

* * *

That had been, by Annie's count, sometime around yesterday morning. Now, they were well into the second day, and she was entirely ready to take this woman's head off — not just because this woman couldn't keep her hands (or anything else) to herself but because she could _see _the wilt to Scott's shoulders over some of what that _woman _was whispering to him, and that was just not okay.

Emma had just run her hand through his hair _again. _She looked him up and down and then walked behind him to start to yank at the ropes. "I just can't stand to see you like this," she said quietly. "I'm not supposed to do this."

"That's never stopped you," he said just as quietly.

"Scott," she said, her tone drawn out. "Why do you think I'm doing it now?"

He shook his head lightly. "Well, it's been long enough."

She walked across the room to return with a glass of water for him, handing it to him wordlessly.

Scott's gaze didn't leave Emma as he gingerly took the glass and drained it, holding the cup in his hands for a long moment afterwards. "I'm sorry you got pulled into this too," he said softly.

She perched on the edge of the chair across from him looking more sympathetic than he'd ever seen from her. "It's not your fault."

"Yeah?" He shook his head ruefully. "Where would you be right now if you hadn't been dragged into this?"

"Honestly? I was at a spa in Paris," she replied with a little wave. "But you know how pretentious those places are."

He smirked. "I'm sure you loved it."

"It was getting boring, and I wasn't even three days in," she replied with a little smirk.

"Well, now you're stuck here without the spa and with Mojo running things," he pointed out. "And still bored, I'm sure."

She let out a little 'hmm' as she looked over her shoulder, tossing her hair as she did so. "The jury's still out." She fixed him with an open look. "Do you know _why _we're here, by chance?"

He shook his head lightly and let out a sigh. "All I know is Spiral dropped me off here, so it has to be related to Mojo." He paused. "Do _you_?"

"Alas, I am without my usual wiles," she said with a little smirk. "At least the ones that might help me find out what this nonsense is about."

"I'm just surprised it's been this long. Usually Mojo's not this patient," Scott said with a frown.

"Well, usually, neither am I," Emma replied, crossing her arms.

He smirked. "Must be hard for you having to wait."

She smiled his way just the slightest bit. "_Dreadful_."

And on the other side of the glass, Annie was fuming. Not just at Emma, either — she couldn't believe, after _all _that she'd been through with Scott, that he was still this spectacularly stupid. White Witch or not, she couldn't believe he was so ready to believe her and _forgive _her…

She paced a small path in the room she'd been locked in, glancing over occasionally at her now-free husband who was still just… _chatting _with Emma as if they were on the same side.

Annie let out a spectacular huff as she dropped into the seat that faced the window, though she almost immediately got back to her feet when she saw the flash of blue out of the corner of her eye and turned to see that that same six-armed woman had stepped through another portal.

The woman raised an eyebrow Annie's way with almost a smirk and gestured with one hand toward the window. "Would you like the chance to fight her?" she asked.

_Yes, _Annie nearly shouted, but she wasn't stupid enough to think it was that simple. "I just want my husband back," she said instead, with her arms crossed over her chest as she pretended her hands weren't shaking with rage — as they had been for the past two days.

"Then I'll show you how to do that," Spiral said, stepping to the side and gesturing for Annie to step through the portal.

Annie narrowed her eyes, not trusting this woman in the slightest. "I'm not going anywhere with you."

"If you refuse to fight, you forfeit the match to the White Queen, and she wins the prize by default," Spiral told her, gesturing to the cell that had Emma and Scott in it.

Annie's eyes widened with her understanding, and then she swore with everything that her father had taught her (and tried not to teach her). "You've got to be kidding me."

Spiral just shook her head and once again pointed toward the blue portal.

Annie narrowed her eyes again and then let out a frustrated sound before she stepped through the portal.


	5. Category Five Hurricane Annie

**Chapter 5: "Category Five Hurricane Annie" **

Annie was surprised to find that she was not the only one in the much larger room where she had been taken. It seemed to be made of glass overlooking a dome, though the top of the dome was blackened so they couldn't see down into it, and there was another glass room on the other side of the dome, which was small enough that she could see the room was empty even from here.

And… K was already in the glass room, pacing a small path, though she looked up when Annie stepped through the portal.

"Are you alright?" K asked. "We tried to find you .."

Annie waved her hand, which was still shaking. "Mad a wet hen, but I'm fine otherwise," she said. "It's Scott you should be worried about. _That woman _has been… you wouldn't believe..."

Before K could ask further, Kate and Jubilee were both ushered in quickly — and they were just as irritated as Annie.

"What have they been doing to you?" K asked, concerned for all of them.

"To _me_? Nothing," Kate all but snapped her way. "Nope, not a thing, just sitting there _watching Kurt _and his _stupid father _and just… can't stop any of it!"

Jubilee nodded along to Kate, sparks flying from her fingertips. "And those stupid rooms won't let me use my powers," she grumbled under her breath, starting to pace.

"Obviously," K agreed, watching the girl move. "Have … have you been stuck _watching_ this whole time?"

"Yes!" Jubilee threw both hands in the air, and a few little sparks escaped with her frustration. "Spiral went and found Warbird, and she's been screwing with _my _husband — gonna screw with _her_ face…" she grumbled, still pacing.

"So … Scott has to deal with _that woman_, and Kurt is with Azazel … and Noh has Warbird? This … doesn't sound like any fun at all," K said as she started to see what was going on.

"You'd think not," Annie grumbled.

"So how does this work?" K asked, turning to look for Spiral or someone to explain as she shook out her hands. "When does the stupid fight start?"

"Well, that six-handed person did promise I could hit that woman…" Annie said, following K's gaze, though it was still another few seconds before Spiral made her appearance.

Spiral looked around the room at the girls and crossed her arms. "This should be simple enough for you," she said. "The game is winner-take-all. You fight, and if you win, you take home your prize — in this case, the X-Men we've captured."

"Our husbands," Kate cut in grumpily.

Spiral tipped her head Kate's way but didn't acknowledge her otherwise. "You already know who you will be fighting."

"No, I don't," K pointed out. "Unless that's you, and then, well … fine by me."

Spiral turned her way and smirked. "No, you won't be fighting me. But I'm sure if you look at the pattern, you'll figure it out anyway."

K pointed a finger at her, and a growl slipped loose. "If this is going the way I think it is, when I get done with some _little bitch, _I'm going to tear a few arms off, then peel off your _face_."

Spiral held up two hands for a moment, shook her head, and then turned her attention to the rest of them, particularly Annie. "You can call for backup. Once and only once. And you won't get to choose who it is," she said. "It will be random — and only after you have given Mojo at least ten minutes of your best fighting."

"Fine by me," Annie said, recognizing that Spiral clearly thought she, out of the group, would need the help the most. "Now, where's Scott?"

Spiral gestured with one hand to the dome below them.

Annie nodded once at that and then rolled up her sleeves. "Alright. How do I get down there?"

At that, Spiral just smirked and opened up another portal for Annie to step through — and she found herself inside the dome, in a large arena like an ancient Roman setup, though right down the middle of the staging area was a huge ravine, splitting the arena in half. She was on one side, and she could see Scott on the other — caged but otherwise alright.

"Annie!" he shouted her way, and he sounded so relieved to see her she almost forgot she was mad at him.

She waved to him and then turned toward the blue portal that opened on her side of the arena as the White Witch of the Hellfire Club stepped through and looked over the whole setup with a look of disdain.

"What is this supposed to be?" Emma said, looking her up and down.

"I should ask you the same thing," Annie said as she slowly approached, her hands already in fists at her side.

"Well, it looks to me like a frumpy little housewife," Emma replied. "I'm not sure what kind of statement you're trying to make, darling, but it's not a good one, whatever it is."

"And yet one of us actually _married _Scott," Annie sneered.

"Only because I turned him down, dear," Emma hissed.

"Your loss," Annie said. "Looks to me like you regret it. I can understand that. I'd be jealous too if I had to watch someone else so happy with him."

"Oh, you think that's happiness?" Emma scoffed with a little laugh.

"I know it is, honey. Not my fault you sold your soul for a little silicone." In a few strides, Annie had closed the space between them to strike out with a solid feint to her left and a gut check with her right knee when Emma moved away from her first hit. When Emma's breath came out in a _woosh_, Annie tsked. "And I'm not even an X-Man."

Emma narrowed her eyes and responded with a powerful strike of her own that Annie didn't quite get out of the way of, catching the corner of her hip, though Annie responded by flat tackling Emma, kneeling on her stomach on the edges of her knees to lay into the blonde woman.

It probably wasn't the fight that Mojo had been hoping for, since it only lasted a few minutes. Emma clearly hadn't expected Annie to have any real fight to her, and she couldn't get her hands up in time to stop Annie's onslaught before Annie had knocked her out.

The fight was over, and the other girls who had been watching were able to call down to Annie now — since before they hadn't been allowed to 'help' with any suggestions before.

"Don't stop now, sunshine!" K called out. "Undo a few hundred thousand dollars of plastic and _lies_."

Annie smirked as she got to her feet and brushed herself off, politely getting the dirt off her hands and primly resettling her shirt on her shoulders before she smashed her boot down and broke Emma's nose, spun on her heel, and headed over to the ravine between her and Scott, who looked fairly wide-eyed at the whole thing.

"Oh please," she said when she saw his expression. "I can take you down, Cyclops. I can handle one has-been X-Man."

Scott frowned, quickly realizing something was up, since she _never _called him Cyclops. "Annie…"

Annie shot him a hard look before she made her way across the ravine, still silently climbing until she got up to where he was. Mojo wasn't subtle — the key was just outside of arm's reach — and she still silently opened the door to a frowning Scott.

"Come on, Molasses," K said. "Move your ass and don't piss her off worse than what's already been done. You don't want to see a Category Five Hurricane Annie."

"She's already at Cat Three," Kate said.

Scott glanced up to where the rest of the group was as he followed Annie back. "How many people did Mojo grab?" he asked.

"Six," K replied.

"Eight," Annie said.

"Logan and I came willingly," K told her.

Scott looked around the group. "So where is everyone else?"

Kate and Jubilee both had the same glare on. "We're getting them next," Kate said darkly.

"You know, like Annie came to get you, Fearless," Jubilee said, and Scott looked toward Annie, who still had her arms crossed over her chest.

"You alright?" he asked in a softer tone, but she just shrugged at him and tossed her hair.

"Fine."

He let out a sigh. "Annie, if the last two days for you were like they were for me…"

"I am well aware what the last two days have been like," Annie replied primly. "For both of us."

Scott stopped in his tracks as the rest of the women watched Annie head toward the door, but it was Jubilee that made it to him first. "_What did you do?_" she asked in an urgent whisper.

Scott was still staring after Annie before he finally turned toward Jubilee and swallowed. "I…" He scrubbed a hand over his face. "... have been in a room with Emma for two days."

"And what did you do?" she pressed. "Because I swear, Fearless … I can't help you if you were too stupid …"

"_No_," he said quickly. "No, I spent most of it tied to a chair."

"You didn't smile at a plastic and silicone lap dance, did you?" K asked in passing, almost too quiet for Scott to catch.

"No." He shook his head. "No, I…." He shook his head again. "I swear, I didn't do anything stupid. We were stuck in a room, and we just talked."

"If that was the whole truth, she wouldn't be nearly that angry," Jubilee pointed out at a whisper. "Something happened."

He paused. "She brought up Jean," he said quietly. "If Annie was listening for that whole thing…" He shook his head. "I wouldn't blame her if she didn't trust me." He sat down in a chair nearby and ran a hand through his hair to put it back the way he liked it - and less muffed up from Emma playing with it. When Jubilee sat beside him, he added in an undertone, "She untied me. Eventually."

"She untied you … after what?" Jubilee asked before she concentrated hard and projected to him. _That part is important, you know._

Scott sighed. _I don't know that it was a specific thing… It had just been two days. And I was done fighting her on personal space. _

_So she wore you down and then tried to pretend to be nice. Sounds about right for her, _Jubilee said.

_I didn't do anything with her. You know I wouldn't, _he said, almost pleadingly.

_I know that, _Jubilee replied quickly, her mental tone not only kind, but also, it was clear that the idea was ludicrous. _Let's figure it all out later. We have to get the other three back. Just … be polite. And properly ashamed as you probably should be. _

He gave her a little look. _For which part? The part where I couldn't fight Emma on anything about Jean… being civil to Emma… _

_For the part where you let her wear you down, and the part where you were probably your charming civil self and half tripping over yourself to apologize for her being awful. _Jubilee frowned at him for a moment. _You _always _apologized for her terrible behavior. _

_Sorry, _he replied softly before he cleared his throat. "So, are you fighting for Noh then?"

"She is," Spiral said as she stepped into the room and tipped her head toward Jubilee. "Everything's set up," she added, gesturing toward the blue portal for Jubilee to step through.

Jubilee nodded, shook out her hands — and a few sparks — and stepped through, out into the arena, though a different part of it than Annie had seen. This one seemed to be more of a meadow, though again, there was small ravine in between where she was standing and where her favorite Kree was in a white box rather than a cage, curled in on himself on the floor with his hands over his head.

She narrowed her eyes toward the ravine but turned toward Warbird when she stepped through as well, looking smug. Warbird opened her mouth to say something — probably to brag about how she was going to win — but Jubilee wasn't about to let her get a word in as she simply hit Warbird with the biggest plasmoid she could build up in two seconds flat and followed it, running full speed to fall into a solid back and forth with the Shi'ar fighter.

When Warbird drew her sword, Jubilee focused on building a plasmoid that detonated the blade in a spectacular shower of rainbow colored sparkles. Warbird let out a shriek of displeasure as she lunged toward Jubilee, neither of them pulling their punches as both Imperial Shi'ar training and years of fighting alongside Wolverine came into play.

The fight was a little longer than Annie's had been with Emma, simply because the fighters were better matched — though Jubilee clearly had the advantage, especially when one of her plasmoids caught the feathers exposed in Warbird's uniform on fire, and Warbird had to put her attention on putting out the flames before they could spread, leaving her open to a hard palm strike to the chin and a follow up kick that knocked her backward. Another hard blow to the back of her head, and the Shi'ar fighter crumpled at Jubilee's feet — just thirty seconds short of the ten-minute cutoff that would have meant the others could have helped for backup.

"Take _that, _creepazoid," Jubilee shouted, punching the air and kicking out at Warbird, though it was clear she was tired from the intensity of the fight.

A light gong sounded as the time hit ten minutes, and Spiral seemed to step around a corner that hadn't been there. "Do you want to ask for help?" she asked.

"Ask for help?" Jubilee asked. "I won …"

Spiral gestured at the ravine. "And you've yet to claim your prize."

"Oh … I thought … that it was an automatic thing," Jubilee said.

Spiral smirked and shook her head. "Mrs. Summers went to hers — you have to go to yours. Now, do you want to ask for help?"

"Um. Sure," Jubilee said, though she started walking toward the ravine.

Spiral nodded, and a moment later, Kate stepped through the portal, holding a quiver and bow and grinning. "Hey, Jubes, guess what? Archery's considered my 'power' in this game." She waved one arrow in her hand easily. "Mind if we take the express way? Whoever was in charge of picking up my quiver got one with a grappling arrow."

"Whatever works best, Hawkeye!" Jubilee called out as cheerfully as she could manage, though her gaze was solidly locked on Noh, who hadn't moved any more than to tremble where he was.

Kate followed her gaze and lost her smile over her bow before she fired the grapplied arrow and simply hooked her arm around Jubilee as they zipped over to where Noh was, which looked worse up close for how curled in he was.

Kate looked over the box and frowned. "What is this thing, anyway?" she asked. "And is it going to get mad at me if I blow my way inside?"

"I wouldn't recommend destroying it," Jubilee said. "It's going to be hard enough on him as it is."

"Well, what is it?" Kate asked, looking through her quiver for something else she could use to get inside.

"Some kind of … Shi'ar torture device for Kree," Jubilee said, gesturing toward it with one hand. "It screws with his hearing in the worst possible ways."

Kate frowned and nodded. "Alright. So no loud noises." She kept ruffling through her quiver. "If Clint was here… he's got an arrow just for infiltrating. You know… cut a circle in glass…" She shook her head. "Alright. Best option might just be to jam some arrows in the edges and pry it open slowly."

"Or … I can melt the lock," Jubilee offered. "Do you think you can pick it?"

"I might be able to," Kate said. "I got pretty good with it, especially after Sinister…" She tucked her hair behind her ear. "The question is: do we want speed or not? Shi'ar locks aren't in my repertoire," she admitted, though she was already looking for a pick.

"Then let's pry the damn thing open," Jubilee said, bouncing on her toes.

Kate nodded her agreement, handing Jubilee several of her arrows. The two of them worked quickly to jam them into the corner of the white box, and Kate used the rope from her grappling arrow to give them a little more leverage as they pulled _hard _to get it open.

Once the door was open even a little bit, Noh let out a little noise that had Kate and Jubilee sharing a look before they pried the door open the rest of the way, and Jubilee crouched down beside her hurting husband.

Jubilee was afraid to even speak for as much as Noh was flinching at every little sound, so instead, she concentrated hard and just projected to him. _What can I do to help? _

_I can adjust, _he replied, obviously trying to push back his panic and pain enough to project back to her. _I need… time. Quiet. _

_We are fighting to get our men out of here,_ Jubilee told him. _I doubt it will be too quiet until it's over, and we still have Azazel and … whoever K's fighting. I am not optimistic._

Noh nodded softly, focusing and quiet for a long moment. _I can reroute… _He took a small breath. _Usually, I route pain through the auditory cortex. Just… give me a moment to make a new path now that I can concentrate. _

She couldn't help but tip her head down to give him a little smile and then kiss his temple gently. _Ready when you are. _

It took a moment, but then he reached over to snag her by the hand and pull her over to kiss her. _I take it I missed your spectacular battle, _he projected to her.

_Wiped the floor with Warbird's lameoid feathered butt. _

He smiled at that and kissed her cheek. "Well then. Shame on her for thinking she could measure up to my Jubilee," he said in a hoarse, quiet voice.

Kate grinned at the two of them and had a little, quiet, celebration before she offered a hand to both of them to get up. "You can probably hide with Annie if you want," she offered in a low whisper. "She's got her own little corner all to herself."

Noh smiled softly. "Alright," he agreed, allowing the girls to lead the way back to where Spiral's portal would take them back to the waiting area.

And just like Kate had said, Annie was sitting by herself, though she'd had enough time to be a little less angry and was instead watching the group with honest worry.

"He needs quiet," Kate explained at a whisper to Annie, who nodded her understanding and made space for Noh to sit next to her as the tired Kree fighter slid into the seat and simply curled into it.


	6. Make a Deal with the Devil

**Chapter 6: "Make a Deal with the Devil"**

"I guess you're up, Hawkeye," K said to Kate as she made her way back a few steps behind Noh and Jubilee. "I think you've got a nasty one — powers or no."

Kate nodded. "Powers or no, he's got a wicked sword arm," she admitted, then leaned in. "See if you can be my backup? This guy's come after my girls, and I wouldn't say no to a permanent end."

K nodded her silent agreement, though at this point, she had to wonder if she was jumping to conclusions on her own upcoming brawl. It wasn't like Logan didn't have a laundry list of nasty customers to deal with. "Tell you what: if you make it past the ten-minute mark and need someone to tap in, I'll make sure it hurts him in the most interesting ways."

Kate grinned at that and nodded, turning to Spiral when the woman arrived. "I'm trading in my bow for a sword," she informed the woman, pointing at one of the six that Spiral had. "Bow's no good that close up, and he'll just cut the string when he gets the chance. So… sword it is."

Spiral tipped her head to the side as she considered the request, then nodded once, holding out her hand for Kate's bow before she and Kate stepped through the portal and she left Kate with one sword and Kurt — bloodied and caged — on the other side of a ravine in what looked like a more desert-like setting than the other two.

Kate had to admit that she was a little nervous about this particular fight, especially since she'd never been able to match Azazel without her literal knockout punch power. The last time she'd been in a sword fight with him… well, a different timeline's K had to get her out of it.

When Azazel stepped through the portal, he grinned when he saw Kate, and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"This shouldn't take too long," Azazel said with a growing smile.

"Don't get overconfident; you don't have your powers anymore," Kate said, though her own nervousness was only barely hidden in the tone of her voice.

"Oh, I wouldn't need my powers to play with you, my darling girl," he replied, smiling wider at hearing the tremor in her voice. "Though that _would _be more fun."

Kate thrust her chin out and twirled her sword in one hand before she took a ready stance. "I think you're rusty. Have you ever held a sword without your enhanced strength to power your blows?" she shot back.

"Oh, I guess we'll just have to see," Azazel replied, grinning maliciously. "_Do_ teach me a lesson."

Kate let out a frustrated noise before she closed the span between them, and the air rang with steel as Azazel easily met her strike with a parry. She recognized the light footwork and lazy way he was flicking his sword from their last sword fight and knew that he was toying with her — but if she could make it ten minutes…

She just really, _really _hoped that her backup was K. Annie was an amazing fighter, but she was no match for Azazel, and Jubilee was just as psyched out by the guy as Kate was.

But she wasn't about to let Kurt's fate sit on the one in three chance that she got the backup she needed, so Kate threw her all into the fight, smiling to herself when, finally, it seemed that Azazel was engaged in the fight as well. Years and years of practicing with Kurt had honed her skills after all, and she wasn't as bad with a blade as she had been years ago in that horrible future.

But eventually, even her best moves were met with nothing but blocks, and Kate found herself being pushed backward.

"Oh, you're not giving up yet, are you?" Azazel purred. "You're just so lovely with a little flush."

She glared at him as she parried a blow that shook her arms. "You wish," she said through her teeth.

"Want to make the game more interesting?"

"Interesting for who?" she said as their swords clashed, and for a moment, they were nearly face to face.

"Everyone involved," he countered.

Kate tried to resist the urge to check the clock, knowing that she hadn't used up enough time. "I'm listening," she said.

He grinned wider and sidestepped her thrust. "What about a trade when I win?"

She frowned as she just barely parried his swing. "You'd leave Kurt?" she asked, thinking of what would happen if Mojo decided to send in Annie.

"Yes," he agreed, smiling her way with a more demonic fire in his eyes than she'd seen even when he was at full power.

"_If _you win," she said slowly. "_If _you win — you'd have to give your word, swear on something I'd believe."

"Tell me what I should swear on," Azazel said evenly. "Whatever it is … I'll swear to it."

She drew out her thought for as long as she thought he would let her. "Your own powers — and any future claim to them."

He raised an eyebrow and nodded. "So be it."

"Then… it's a deal," she said with a nod.

He paused and stepped back, offering her his hand for an instant, his free hand angling the sword to the ground. She considered the outstretched hand for a moment, not trusting it, but again, it was a chance to take some precious time, and she took it, pausing before she shook his hand at last.

As soon as they clasped hands, he grinned wider. "Kurt for Kaleb then."

Her eyes went wide as she tried to pull her hand back. "That's not — no!" she spluttered.

"You've already taken my hand. The deal is done."

"You know — you _can't _— the deal was for me!" she gasped out as she finally pulled her hand free.

"My darling girl, I didn't specify when I offered," Azazel replied smoothly. "And I assure you: I have brokered deals like this for _centuries._"

Kate stared at him openly, the pure panic obvious. So, she very nearly missed it when Azazel raised his sword again, and she barely managed to block it from being fatal as the entire tone of the sword fight changed.

He simply powered through her until she was barely keeping up her defense, and when at last he pressed through one of her blocks and slashed a long, deep cut down her sword arm, Kate was sure she would lose. But she couldn't look toward the clock and risk giving him even more of an opening — because she was sure if he knocked her out or killed her, the backup wouldn't come into play at all.

She scrambled back, wide-eyed and panicked, breathing hard when the gong sounded, and she could have cried with relief as Spiral stepped through with a simple question: "Do you want to call for help?"

"_Yes_," she breathed out, almost pleadingly, as she held her hand over her arm to staunch the bleeding. "Please."

Spiral tipped her head to the side and then stepped back, and to Kate's immense relief, it was K who stepped through looking murderous — since she had heard every word.

She didn't wait for any instructions — or to take Kate's sword at first — as she simply rushed Azazel with a growl. She didn't have her claws out even as she started the assault, more than happy to pound the daylights out of him without a word spoken.

She started out the fight ducking Azazel's sword to grab him by the neck and haul him over to the ground with her knees around his neck, punching him in the face the whole time between getting his head caught up and when he hit the ground. The first two hits were clearly accented by a sharp crack as _something _broke.

His sword was no good when he couldn't actually use it, but he did manage to grab a hold of K's hair and try to pull her backward — at least far enough that she couldn't reach him to punch him in the face again.

The two of them separated long enough for K to stomp down on the hilt of Kate's sword and flip it up into the air before she caught it, crossing swords with him before Kate could get entirely across the span to where the ravine was.

The sword fight turned into a wrestling match in a heartbeat once Azazel saw he didn't have as clear an advantage, and when Azazel managed to scramble over her to get half of a pin, K pulled a leg up hard — and did more than knock the wind out of him when she threw all she had into his ribs. It broke the pin and had him collapsing over her.

She was just drawing back to send a fist full of claws into the side of his head when Kate called out — Kurt was in trouble. K retracted her claws and started to push Azazel _off, _though he was sure to make that as difficult as possible, fighting her the whole way_. _

Kate was scrambling toward where Kurt was while K pounded on the former demon king, and K could see now that Kurt was pale and holding both arms across his middle at his ribs. Kate managed to get up to where he was one-handed, though she was pale as well, looking for the key.

Still laid out on top of K, though hurting badly, Azazel simply started to laugh — a painful noise that caught a few times from the damage K had done him, but unsettling all the same. "Oh, don't stop _now_," he said, smirking as he grabbed hold of her wrists and then began laughing once more. "It's quite the choice, isn't it?" he whispered in her ear. "Kill me and you kill my wayward boy. Let me live and you risk his little brat."

"What did you _do_?" K growled out, shifting to try to throw him off — hard to do when she had zero leverage.

"I simply found a little insurance," he told her, grinning wider. "You were so determined to make me mortal, I felt it was only a matter of time before you or that animal of a husband of yours thought to take that _temporary _state to its natural end."

She fought to get her shoulders up, though it didn't seem to bother Azazel too much. "You may as well just give up, Pet," Azazel chuckled as K kept searching for a break, but something about _that _was enough to get Kate to snap.

Kate spun in place and glared around her, her fists balled up as she looked for _anything _to use as a weapon. This whole fight was just way too futzing close to what had happened in that other reality for Kate's liking.

A rock flew past K's face and bounced off of Azazel's forehead, leaving a gash. "NO!" Kate shouted. "Bad demon! NO!"

Azazel was dumbfounded and distracted enough to give K a tiny bit of breathing room. She let her head fall back for a second then threw her all into bashing him in the face with her forehead. It was a hard enough hit that it got him to loosen his grip on one arm — and she pushed hard to toss him, at least enough to throw him off balance.

In a few hard hits — now that she could pull her arm all the way back — she more or less reversed their position until she was straddling his stomach and pounding the crap out of him, waiting for him to fall back limp.

"K!" Kate's voice rang out, and she finally looked back to see the two Wagners slowly making their way over. Kate was supporting Kurt with her good arm, and both of them were incredibly pale. "K, what happened?"

"He did something to Kurt," K explained, still perched on top of the ex-demon king. "If he dies, he takes Kurt with him. If I'd have known, I'd have just knocked him out to start with."

Kate looked wide-eyed, but Kurt just looked angry. "Of course," he said bitterly. "He's had access to plenty of my blood for the past two days — and before that…" He shook his head with a little wince.

"I'm sorry, Kurt," K said.

Kurt shook his head and waved it off. "You didn't know," he told her.

"So, he must still be feeling it," Kate said, frowning down at the unconscious ex-demon. "If Kurt's still hurting like this... "

"With the shot I gave him, he's probably bleeding internally," K said as she finally got up from Azazel. "I went for a spleen shot."

Kate winced, and Kurt just closed his eyes. "Then we should get home," he said softly.

"Yeah, well. One more to go," K agreed, dusting herself off. She paused and looked down at Azazel with a frown. "Are we taking him with us?"

Kate and Kurt glanced at each other, an entire, silent conversation taking place between the two of them in the span of a few seconds, before Kate nodded, very slowly. "I… don't want to take the chance Mojo will kill him or drop him off somewhere to die — not when Kurt's tied to him."

K let out a long breath and in a quick move pulled Azazel up into a fireman's carry. "I've got your luggage, Blueberry."

"She's carrying your baggage," Kate said in an attempt at humor that got a dry look from Kurt. "Don't worry; I'm sure we can watch the monster-in-law while you're fighting… who are you fighting, anyway?"

"Nobody knows yet," K almost sang out. "Probably someone ugly, though. Odds are."

"We'll just… stay in Annie's corner for the few minutes it'll take you," Kate said with a small smile K's way.

"I'll do my best to make it quick," K said, nodding. "It's frustrating to throw someone bigger than you are. And most of his problems are bigger than I am."

"Everyone's bigger than you are," Kurt pointed out with a weak smile.

Kate just nodded as the four of them headed back to the waiting room through Spiral's portal, and Jubilee helped Kate and Kurt to get to the quiet corner so that not only could Kurt lie back but Kate could get Jubilee's help with wrapping her arm properly so she didn't lose any more blood.

The entire time Jubilee was working with her, Kate was watching as K and Scott made it a point to get Azazel as secure as it was possible for him to be given what they had to work with, and it wasn't until after K stepped slightly back from her work that Kate let out the breath she was holding and very quietly slid down to the floor next to Kurt, checking him over too even though she knew what was wrong with him before she laid down next to him and put her head on his shoulder.

It took a long moment for the adrenaline of the fight — and then finding out that Kurt was tied up with his father … and everything else — to dissipate, and when it did, Kate felt suddenly very _tired_. And completely relieved, considering what could have happened.

"It's alright, _Vögelchen_," Kurt muttered into her hair.

"No it's not!" she said, a little sharper than she meant to be as she found herself unexpectedly crying before she could stop it. "You heard what I… what almost…"

Kurt gave her a little look. "Do you really think that it would be allowed to stand?" he asked gently. "Or that our friends would allow that to happen? Frankly, we're lucky she didn't take his head clean off."

"He deserves it," she muttered as she turned into him and buried her face in his shoulder. "If he wasn't such a coward, using _you_ ... he deserves it."

"Indeed," he said with a smile, pulling her as tightly as he was able without hurting.

"I'm really sorry, Kurt," she told him after a moment, with a little hitched sound that told Kurt she was still clearly upset.

"You heard him," he told her, trying to calm her down. "He's been lying to people and double dealing for centuries. Our lawyer would never let that stand."

"That doesn't excuse — _Kaleb_, Kurt. I could have lost _Kaleb_," she said, nearly shaking.

"But you didn't," Kurt pointed out.

"Only because K stepped in," she said in barely a whisper. "If it had been Annie or Jubes…"

"You were counting on it being her," Kurt whispered back. "You were trying so hard not to look at the clock."

"I never would have… if I'd known it was Kaleb—" She held onto his shirt a little tighter. "What does he want with — don't answer that," she said suddenly, burying her face deeper as she tried very hard to get a grip on herself.

He knew that trying to help her at the moment was a lost cause, but he had to try and ease her mind somewhat. "I didn't know he was talking about Kaleb either," he admitted.

"How could you? You're not _evil_," she replied, this time with a small smile that she simply couldn't help. "You don't think like him."

He kissed the side of her head and let his voice drop low. "I'm pretty sure Scott swore louder than K did."

"We'll have to review the tape."

"No, he's right," Annie said quietly, surprising both of them as they looked up to see Annie sit down close by the two of them. "Scott wanted to go in to help — he was spitting mad — but Portal or whatever her name is said that only the four of us ladies were allowed to fight."

Kurt frowned at that and shook his head lightly. "But the fights are getting nastier, if I understood it. Did anyone else need the back-up?"

"Not entirely," Annie said. "Kate helped Jubilee get _to _Noh, but that was after the fight ended and they just needed help getting him here."

"So Kate helped Jubilee, then K helped Kate …" Kurt had his eyes narrowed. "So if K needs help, it would probably be _Annie._"

"It could be Jubes," Kate offered softly.

"It doesn't matter," K called out. "It's not going to happen that way."

"Yes, I'm sure you'll be fine," Annie said. "If I had one of those Stark guns, I could help, though," she added with a little smirk.

K just gave Annie a little smirk in return. "You do fine without the guns," K told her.

"Well, someone got me good and wound up first," Annie said, though she blushed at the compliment.

"You should take the backup either way," Scott said.

K looked him up and down and slowly shook her head. "We'll see who it is first."

"It doesn't matter who it is," Scott said.

"Oh, yes, it does," K argued.

"Take the backup — and they can _get Logan out_," Scott said. "Once he's out, between the two of you, whoever it is will go down hard."

"I'll consider it," K replied, crossing her arms.

"Don't risk both of you just because you're both too stubborn to ask for help," Scott said evenly.

"Love you too, Scotty," K replied flatly.

"I'm serious, K. These fights are getting nastier."

"I know. I've been watching them too," she countered. "I know." She let her voice drop low enough that she wasn't really expecting any of them to catch it as she continued, "Which is why I'm not saying yes."

"You know you are perfectly screaming from my point of view," Noh said hoarsely.

"Stuff it, moonbeams," K whispered, barely putting any air behind it.

"Ask for the help, and I'll rush the portal before she can close it," he offered softly. "I can make it."

"And if _someone _roars?" she asked in that same whispered tone. "That would be the end of it."

"You think I can't handle him? Especially with your help?"

"I'm not going to lose on a technicality," she pointed out.

He leaned back with a frown. "I'm coming after you if things go horribly wrong," he said.

She rolled her eyes and turned away from him. "Rest up, sweetpea."

He waved the cloth he'd torn from his uniform and was chewing on her way. "I'm doing just that."

"Space Goat."

"It's not my fault you Terrans have such limited digestive systems."

"It's called _taste_," she replied at a little over a whisper.

"I'm familiar with the concept," he said with a smirk.

"But not the practice," she said waving one hand at him. "Obviously."

"If there was food, I would be eating it. This is fuel for healing."

At that, Jubilee let out a sigh and produced a Snickers bar from her coat pocket. "_Ask_."

Noh shook his head. "That is for you if there is _more _to this ridiculous show," he said. "You are fighting; we don't know that you won't be going back."

But Jubilee let out a noise of irritation and started to force feed him. "I'm not kissing anyone that doesn't taste good."

"Now _there _is a threat," Annie said with a little smirk as Noh gave up and took the whole Snickers bar, wrapper and all, from Jubilee and grinned at her crookedly through the entire course of chewing.

It had been long enough that the group was sure Spiral would come back any moment, and Scott made his way over to where K was still half watching Azazel. "I got this one," he promised. "You just deal with what's ahead of you."

"Thanks," she replied, watching both of them as Scott got ready to haul the still sleeping ex-demon. "I don't really want to touch him again if I can avoid it."

"Yeah, I don't blame you," he said in a low tone. "I'm just waiting for Strange to figure out a way to break that spell…" He trailed off and raised one eyebrow with a significant look.

"If there's a way for it to be done …"

"If there's a way to cast it, there's a way to break it," he said simply. "We can always ask our new demigod Wiccan," he added with a small smirk.

"I don't want to ask him for anything, really," K said quietly. "He's so worried about making the wrong move. No pressure."

"He needs to be able to get past that or he'll spend his whole life paralyzed," Scott said with a frown.

"Alright, Dad," K said in a chiding tone. "I'm sure he's heard the same thing from Strange. And Illyana. And anyone else with a magic stick to wave."

Scott rolled his eyes her way, though before he could answer further, Spiral finally reappeared and tipped her head K's way. "Your turn."

"And off we go," K said, giving them a tight little smile before she got up to follow her.


	7. Lion Fight

**Chapter 7: "Lion Fight"**

K and Spiral stepped into what was essentially a gladiator arena, and as Spiral stepped back to leave K to her fight, a nasally voice resounded over speakers no one could see. "For this _final showdown_, the rules are different! As our viewers know, these contestants can _heal_! Ten minutes on the clock is far too short a time for anything _substantial! _No, no." Mojo's voice was dripping with glee. "For this fight, we'll put fifteen minutes on the clock before help is offered. And if it is refused once, it is refused. No second chances in this battle royale!"

As Mojo talked, K quickly ran her hands through her hair and worked it into a tight braid, hoping to keep it out of her face if she could. The terms were not surprising, all things considered, and she very pointedly did not look up at where she knew the rest of the group was watching.

Across the way, she could see where they had Logan — a modified version of the same cage Kurt was in, electrified, of course, to discourage any adamantium-laced breakouts. And inside, Logan looked furious already, pacing what little path he could manage.

The two of them really didn't need Mojo's crappy rule adjustment to figure out what the trouble was, after all. The scent in the arena was already there … it was just a matter of where he was hiding.

K closed her eyes and just listened, waiting for any noise that would betray where the monster was. The silence stretched on for a few long, tense minutes until K finally picked up her head and turned — though the others couldn't see where he was hidden yet. "There's the little bitch," K said, waiting for him to step out finally. "You walk like a damn elephant."

After that, it was just a few seconds before Creed launched out of one of the darkened arches that surrounded the arena, growling and clearly enraged already. K waited, quartered away from him in a ready stance until the last possible second, then dodged his strike, doing all she could to simply work around him.

It was a terribly uneven match. The slight edges K had were far outnumbered by the impact that Victor had with his advantages, including the fact that she hadn't really trained against him in a long time. She had him in speed and agility, but obviously, he was far stronger, and the hits she landed didn't stick as well as she wanted them to.

But Mojo was right. Ten minutes was next to nothing — and just before that ten minute mark, Victor finally landed his first _solid _hit, shredding her from shoulder to hip across her back. From there, it was much nastier and a steadily downhill slope. It was clear where their friends were watching that he was playing with her too. Like a giant, spoiled cat.

The hits she got in, though nasty, simply didn't have the strength behind them to really do damage. And those that did major damage weren't in vital enough areas to slow him down as much as K needed them to.

She got a roar from him that shook the barrier between them and the X-Men watching the fight when she stuck her claws into both of his forearms and pulled back hard, leaving him without his claws for a few minutes, though as she was catching her breath, he caught up to her and bit her shoulder until his teeth met.

And in the box above the arena, almost everyone watching was holding their breath, wincing at the way the fight had turned. Scott had his gaze on the clock the whole time, watching the seconds tick down, and Jubilee already had sparks flying from the tips of her fingers, totally wide-eyed and nervous but ready to _go _if she had to.

"Kurt, can you…?" Scott asked when there was about a minute left, but Kurt shook his head.

"Don't you think I would have by now if I could?"

Scott frowned harder at the answer, still watching the clock as it ticked down and the roars and snarls below them got louder. "Ask for help," he muttered under his breath.

But as the group was watching, between the deafening snarls were nothing but whispered threats. Creed knew _everything._ Right down to who the kids were closest to and which crayon was their favorite. He knew. Too much. And it had K as focused as she could be on ending the damn fight. As the last minute ticked down on the arena floor, the two of them rushed at each other again. K feinted for a left hook before she dropped down and sunk her claws in him to the knuckles — one below the belt and the other angled up into his chest as she tried to slide past him.

It … very nearly did the trick. But as Creed went down, he made sure to grab a hold of her braid and drag her with him, crushing her to his chest with one arm pinning both of hers to her side. For a moment, it wasn't clear if either of them was moving or breathing by how they were in a heap on the ground.

It was clear that even the judges weren't sure what the situation was. It didn't look like there was any movement on either side, but Scott was positively frozen as he watched Victor finally get to his feet, still holding K tightly enough that she couldn't do more than wriggle in his grasp, kicking and trying to get to him.

Spiral moved down to make the offer for help as Victor whispered over K's shoulder exactly what was going to happen if she did. He had his free hand wrapped around her neck as he spoke, and he knew she was too injured to fight properly. He was explicitly clear: the second someone came through that portal, he'd snap K's neck and gut her backup. End of story. He went on to promise that he'd head back to Westchester for the first time in … oh. A few _months_. And he's start picking off little kids too. And he said the whole thing, being damn sure that he wasn't looking at K but at Logan, who was positively shaking in rage.

"You can ask for help," Spiral said, stopping a safe distance from the fight as she raised an eyebrow at the situation K found herself in. "Will you accept it?"

There were only a few seconds that passed before K simply relaxed and very clearly replied "No."

Spiral looked surprised for only a moment before she stepped back toward her portal. "I won't offer again," she said.

"I know," K replied, completely calmly, and Spiral frowned but stepped through the portal as the claxon rang out for the fight to continue.

Victor started to chuckle and muttered something that was a little too quiet for the microphones to pick up, his gaze locked on Logan as he tipped his head slightly and landed an incredibly gentle kiss on K's cheek as she closed her eyes tightly.

There was a tremendous snarl that echoed the arena as the lights dimmed for an instant — and a shower of sparks erupted at the far end of the arena. Guards began to shout, and there were barked orders over the speakers as Logan broke loose from his cell and was positively barrelling at Victor, entirely over the edge.

With a quick flick of his claws, Victor sliced into K's throat and dropped her for more lively games, but that didn't exactly get the response he'd hoped for either.

It was painfully clear to the X-Men in the booth that these two had simply gone far too long without a real fight. It was more vicious than they could recall, and both of them weren't holding anything back. But it was Scott that realized a few minutes in that Logan was teetering back toward 'in control'. Not there yet … but he was clearly trying. And if he could just get it _back_, get control before he drained himself too early, he had a shot. Otherwise ... well. It was a real concern.

Scott was pacing, honestly concerned, and he hadn't realized he'd sat down next to Annie until she unconsciously reached out to put a hand on his arm. For just a second, he looked back at her to see the pure terror she had in her eyes as she watched the fight below them — and he remembered then that she had never seen Sabretooth in action.

"Yeah," he said quietly. "It's usually this bad."

She stared at him for a moment before, to his surprise, she put her head down on his shoulder and held onto his arm a little tighter, her earlier anger forgotten for the moment when their friends' lives were on the line below them.

The fight was even. Victor was, as always, truly enjoying himself, using his strength to his advantage while Logan simply let loose. The smaller man was taking heavy shots, and the damage was stacking up, but he didn't seem to even be registering it as he gave it right back to the blonde monster.

With a lucky shot, Creed managed to throw Logan, and the crack as he hit the wall was enough to make chunks of rock fall around him as he hit the ground. Logan was still half out of his mind, and the situation wasn't made any easier when he looked over to where K was lying in a puddle of blood, though even in that state, he could see she was breathing. Creed bellowed out a roar that got both Logan and K to turn their heads, and when Logan saw her move, he tipped his head slightly to watch her before Creed could get too close. She blinked up at him for a moment and covered the wound that was just starting to stitch together right.

And when Logan got back to his feet — just like that, he was back in control and beyond pissed off. As Victor charged his way, Logan calmly took a few steps away from K, not blinking as he waited for Creed to get there.

As he finally took his stance, a moment before Creed struck out, the whole mood of the fight shifted. Suddenly, Creed couldn't land a hit to save his life. And Logan was simply taking hard shots as the blonde passed him by, using Creed's moves and his habits against him, shredding him bit by bit.

The calmer Logan seemed, the more enraged Victor got, finally getting sloppier in his attacks, and completely dropping any chance to defend himself.

The two ferals were clearly exchanging words … though whatever Logan was saying was short, to the point, and quiet as Victor shouted out the same old threats — peppered now with direct threats on Logan's kids that the others finally could hear. And that got a low sort of growl from Kurt as the others looked on in horror.

No one knew it was the final attack until they watched Creed take a few steps past Logan and simply … fell. Blood was dripping off of Logan's claws as he turned toward his wife and very calmly walked her way. She was more or less healed up as he picked her up and turned toward the spot that Spiral had been appearing and reappearing.

"We're done," Logan barked out.

It took a moment, but Spiral's blue portal finally opened up, and she looked guarded when she stepped through. "Yes, you are," she agreed, looking him over.

"So, get us back home before I lose my charitable attitude," Logan growled her way, eyes still flashing in fury. "And if you or anyone else here comes botherin' any of us again, I _will _kill you."

She frowned at him deeper and then nodded once. "The show is over," she said, gesturing to the portal. "I'll take everyone back to where I found them."

"Nothin' doin'," Logan argued. "All of 'em come with me. Don't need you accidentally puttin' em in danger. I _will _come back on my own to deal with you if that happens."

Spiral just gestured at her portal. "Back home, then. Or would you rather I dropped you off in a hospital somewhere?"

"Take us back to Westchester or I'll drop you in a morgue."

"Alright then," she said, stepping through the portal with them — back to their room in Westchester exactly, where they'd left.

"You have two minutes before I come hunting," Logan warned her.

* * *

In the glass room where the rest of the captured X-Men (and one former demon king) were, Spiral hadn't arrived yet, but something else did light up the room — this time, a white, five-pointed star that a frazzled America Chavez stepped through.

She looked around the room at the wounded Wagners, snuggled Summerses, and Jubilee curled up with her moon man — and let out a sigh. "_There _you are. Now where's Logan and K and the freaky-arm lady? Because I have to tell you: this was _not _an easy place to find."

The entire gathered group looked surprised to see her. "_How _did you find us?" Kate asked.

"Are you doubting me, Princess?"

"No, I just want to know _how_ so I can do it next time this stupid comes up," Kate said, and America broke into a grin as she rushed forward a few steps to pull Kate up from the ground and into a crushing hug.

When the hug ended, though, America pulled back, saw how puffy Kate's eyes were and frowned. "What's going on here, _chica_?" she asked, looking around the room more carefully this time before she spotted the unconscious ex-demon and let out one word in a breath. "Ah."

America was headed toward him with her sleeves rolled up before Annie called out, "Wait."

"Oh, come on. What is it this time?" America said, turning with her whole body Annie's way with an eyeroll that rolled from her head to her toes. "X-Men don't kill? Because I'm not an X-Man."

"It's a long story," Kate said, catching up to her friend. "But if he dies, Kurt dies."

"Well that's crap."

"Yeah, I know," Kate agreed.

America rolled her eyes for a long while and then shrugged. "Fine. I won't kill him. But this is so stupid, Kate."

"Don't I know it," Kate agreed.

America shook out her head and her hair. "So, time to go?"

The blue portal opened up, and before she'd even stepped through, Spiral was speaking to them. "We're running out of time; you need to go now."

But Spiral hadn't been expecting the curly-headed former Young Avenger to be there, and as soon as she spotted Spiral, America was right in her face, knocking her out with one hard punch.

America let out a whistle and shook out her hand as Spiral crumpled. "What is she made of?" she complained, shaking out her fingers.

"A whole lot of stupid," Jubilee said.

America smirked her way and then raised both hands, her eyes glowing as she drew up a white star. "Back to our own dimension then? This one's a drag."

"Yes please," Kate agreed as Annie moved to help her get Kurt on his feet, while Scott hefted Azazel over his shoulder.

"We're taking the loser?" America asked with one eyebrow raised.

"We need him," Kurt said in a tired tone. "For the moment."

"Your family is stupid," America said, shaking her head before she kicked through the star to open the portal to the other side — and the entire group of them filed through into the hallway of the residential hall where the teachers and their families lived.

"You three need to go to Hank," Scott said as soon as they were set, motioning to Kate, Kurt, and Noh.

"Him too," Kate pointed out, gesturing the Azazel.

"I'm taking him somewhere more secure first before I send Hank in," Scott told her seriously.

But rather than teleporting anyone to Hank, Kurt was looking around. "Where are Logan and K?"

"I can go back for them," America offered, though almost as soon as she'd said it, her phone buzzed, and she picked it up to shake her head. "No, no. Forget that. Those lunatics are just fine. They beat us here, apparently."

"What makes you say that?" Kurt asked.

America held up her phone. "K just texted me to tell me she's home." Her phone buzzed again. "And with the kids. Snuggle pile."

Annie shook her head. "I'm going to the kitchen," she told them. "You get yourselves seen to — you know where to find me."

"Home for thirty seconds and she's cooking already," America said, shaking her head.

"With two healers and Noh to feed? Not to mention the rest of us? You bet I am," Annie said over her shoulder, already headed to the kitchen.

"Okay, someone is going to need to tell me what the heck happened," America said as Annie disappeared. "All I know is that I got a picture of one nasty lookin' chica, and I started looking." She looked over at Kurt as they headed toward the medical bay. "Your friend is crap with details."

"Yes, well, I doubt they had much time for more," Kurt said with a wan smile.

"You remember when that creep was playing dress up with me and K?" Kate told America. "He came back and decided to rope the Summers and Sparkles families into the fun."

"Yeah, but you're still dressed normally," America pointed out.

"It was different this time," Kate said with a distinct frown. She glanced over her shoulder down the hall — where Scott had disappeared with Azazel to get him secure before he could wake up and cause trouble. "Last time, me and K screwed up this guy's plans by rescuing ourselves, so I guess he decided to get us back by giving us someone to rescue." She gestured at Kurt with a glare. "So… he took our husbands."

America glared. "So, when do we go get him?"

"He's likely not in that dimension anymore," Kurt said, his tone annoyed and tired at the same time.

"I can find him," America promised. She shook her hair out. "And that still doesn't explain why your evil father-in-law is here. Or Annie being… I don't think I've seen Annie like that before."

"Annie's had a hard few days," Kate said. "We didn't start fighting for our guys until today — it was two days watching them hurt until then."

America stopped and turned toward her friend with wide eyes before she let out a breath that carried several horrible promises in two languages with it. "No, seriously. When are we going after him?"

"Well, you asked why Annie was mad," Kate pointed out.

"Not to mention the fact that the final fight was with Sabretooth," Kurt said with a deep frown as they arrived at Hank's lab, and the fuzzy blue doctor greeted them with a smile.

"Ah! Our fearless leader said you'd be down; I simply assumed a more expeditious arrival from a group of battered warriors," Hank said as he glanced over the top of his half-moon glasses. "Are you so injured that it impeded your progress?"

"We were catching America up on what happened," Kate explained with a wave as she and Jubilee helped Kurt to a seat. "Did Scott explain to you the double-patient scenario with Kurt and his dad?"

"He did, though I'm sure that you'll excuse me if I simply ignore the father in favor of the son."

"As long as he doesn't die from the neglect," Kate said with an attempt at a smirk.

Hank gave her a little smile with a glance, though he kept his focus on Kurt as he had him lay back and began to press on his belly. "Nothing feels out of place or like any kind of serious internal bleeding issue," he said after a thorough exam. "I can run a test or two, of course, but I'm quite intrigued by what results Azazel will have."

"I'm sure they'll be similar," Kurt said with a little frown. "My father is nothing if not thorough."

Hank nodded and gestured for Kate to sit down as he pulled Kurt upright. "Priorities, of course."

"Of course," she agreed with a small smile as she sat down by him and showed him her arm. "I lost a swordfight," she explained.

"Bah," Hank said with a little frown. "I'm sure we can patch this with a little glue. No stitches necessary. Once it's cleaned, of course. Heaven only knows where that sword was."

"No kidding," she said, pulling a face.

He paused, the supplies in his hand as he tipped his head to the side. "I meant Mojo's farce of a dimension."

"I meant the ex-demon who was using it."

"I'm sure your ex-priest husband can splash a little holy water on it and banish any spiritual impurities."

Kate smirked at him and reached over to lightly punch him in the shoulder. "You're still my favorite doctor. You know that right?"

"Of course," Hank replied with a little smile before he produced a Twinkie and handed it to her. "What choice do you have but to love me?"

"Excuse me, Dr. Blue and Fuzzy," Jubilee sang out. "I _too _am suffering needlessly over here."

"Let me guess: your blood sugar is dangerously low in the 'normal' levels?" Hank replied.

"Well, we _were _two days without food," Kurt said with a little smirk Jubilee's way as he tried to help her get her sweets.

"Though our resident boss lady is working on fixing that problem," Kate said.

"Oh?" Hank asked, before he tossed both Jubilee and Noh their own cream-filled confections and didn't bother checking before he tossed one at America for good measure too.

"Yeah, she's upstairs trying to cook for everybody," Kate said, then paused. "She… could probably use a good Dr. Fuzzy hug, to be honest."

"She was paired to fight Emma Frost," Kurt explained to Hank in an undertone.

"And that's how all the fights worked out? Paired up against rivals?"

Kurt nodded. "You've already seen who Kate fought. Warbird was there for Noh… Sabretooth was there as well," he added with a frown.

"And with the threats he was uttering, I would like to look at our security. Again," Noh muttered darkly.

"What threats was he muttering?" Kurt asked. "I heard what he _shouted_ …"

"He was shouting about the children in the mansion; beyond that…" Noh shook his head. "The specifics were worrisome, and in the state I was in, even I didn't catch all of it."

"Then we'll need to talk to K or Logan," Scott said as he made his reappearance.

"We have to talk to them anyway, since they're snuggling all our kids," Kate pointed out.

"We'll bring the water," Kurt promised Scott with a smirk.

"I'm sure Annie has plenty," Scott said with a dry smirk in return.


	8. Are You Alright?

**Chapter 8: Are You Alright?**

Annie was upstairs working away on a good meal for everyone that had been captured — with a little extra for Logan and K; she was putting together as much protein as she could. Eggs. Chicken. The works. She really had a good rhythm going, starting to relax just the slightest bit at the chance to pound a few eggs into scrambled submission.

"How are you holding up?" Rachel asked as she made her way into the kitchen, her hands in her back pockets as she knew Annie couldn't stand any help and she was resisting the urge to stir a pot.

"Oh, just fine," Annie said with a little heat to her tone.

"Okay, I don't even need to be in the realm of psychic to know that is a bald-faced lie, Mrs. Summers."

Annie let out a frustrated sound and then dropped her spatula to the counter as she spun to face Rachel. "What kind of question is that anyway? Of course _none _of us are alright. Obviously."

"Well, there are levels of 'not' alright," Rachel said, her shoulder shrugged up to her ear. "And some people can operate fine on high levels of not alright. You? Are not one of them. So I'm concerned."

"I'll… figure it out," Annie said, waving her hand at Rachel.

"Anything I can do to help you with that?" Rachel asked, genuinely looking as if she'd bend over backward right there.

For a moment, Annie paused and smiled her way as she reached over to squeeze Rachel's arm. "You're a good girl, you know that?"

"Not really one I've heard before."

"Well you are," Annie said. "And I appreciate it. But unless you can figure out a way to keep that woman from ever darkening my husband's doorway again…"

"Well, there is a line formed around the building of people that would be happy to bury her."

"Yes. Well. If Scott was in the line, maybe I'd feel better about it," Annie said with a sniff as she turned back to what she was doing.

"Scott … wants to avoid confrontation more than anything," Rachel said at last. "Charles used to do the same thing. Hope that the creeps would just … not."

Annie shook her head as she pulled the chicken out of the oven to test the temperature and then put it back in. "It's fine. I shouldn't be saying anything to you anyway."

"Why not?" Rachel asked, looking alarmed.

"Because you're his daughter!" Annie looked as if it was obvious. "I'm not going to say a word against a father to his own children."

Rachel let out a sigh and shook her head. "It's not the same."

"Of course it is," Annie said primly. "You're still his daughter. Even if you're grown," she added, shooting a small smirk her way.

"Yeah, but … different … you know what, let's just …" Rachel sighed again. "I want to help. And I've heard everything that has ever been said or thought about him. Honestly."

Annie sized Rachel up for a moment before she let out a small sigh. "Then I'm sure you have an idea of what two days locked up with that woman did to him," she said, then paused. "Your mother…" She shook her head. "Just how likely is she to come back? That woman seemed to think it was certain."

Rachel frowned and shook her head. "She's in the white hot room. She has no interest in coming back."

"And if she did?" Annie asked. "I'm not trying to be a jealous wife. Really. But some of the things Scott wasn't denying…"

Rachel let out a breath and thought it over. "You know he's horrible at defending himself, for one thing. But for another … she did come back one last time when she should not have. She was … she was glad to go, and we all hated to see her leave and were very, very relieved when she did. _All _of us."

Annie thought it over for a long moment. "I know," she said very quietly. "At least, I've heard him talk about it when he was worried about you." She went to the cabinets for a few spices. "I just want to hit him sometimes."

"It … wasn't just about the Phoenix," Rachel tried to clarify. "Mom — _Jean _was ready to be done with it. She wanted to rest."

Annie nodded quietly, pulling together her corn and green beans to top off the meal as she thought it over. "Mmm."

"It was complex. And miserable for everyone involved at the end. No one wants to go back to that. _No one._"

"Maybe not," Annie admitted. "But Rachel …" She shook her head. "There's so much in his past that I have to find out like this."

"So, ask me," she said, hopping up on the counter. "It's not a secret. He is just … unable to talk about most of it because it is _so _painfully tragic."

"Believe me: two days of listening to that woman bring up every tragedy? I know." Annie glared down at the food she was preparing. "You took her powers, but she can still… _do _that to him."

"Then … maybe the next time, I'll make her think she's a nun."

Annie snorted. "No convent would take her."

"True. But. It's the thought that counts, right?"

Annie smirked and nodded. "Yes. Well." She let out all her breath. "I'm sure I'll get over it. And it's really not his fault — entirely. He's just… such an idiot." She winced. "Oh, sorry. Pretend I didn't say that to you."

"Truer words," Rachel laughed. "Can I help you now — or am I still in danger of losing a limb if I try?"

Annie smirked. "Give me thirty seconds and all that's left is to carry it up. And I'm sure you can help with that," she said as she gave the side dishes one last stir and then reached for an oven mitt.

* * *

When the sparkles made their way up to K and Logan's room — finally — they were expecting more noise and merrymaking from the little ones, if they were being honest. Not an almost perfectly silent room with only the sound a movie playing in the background as they opened the doors.

Instead of the games of tackle and dog pile, they found that most of the little ones were sitting either on the end of the bed or leaning against the foot of it as they quietly watched their movie. Charlie even looked up at them with one finger over her lips to shoosh them when they stepped inside.

K and Logan were passed out. K had her head on Logan's chest, and they were tucked up close, with Sadie snuggled in her mother's arm, one hand on her cheek as the little one slept on alongside them. Elin and James were close by, though they were watching the movie too.

"This must be bad if he didn't wake up when we came in," Jubilee whispered in a breath Noh's way.

Noh nodded quietly as he slipped over to where their twins were — close by where K was. The little girls attached to their dad, while Noh looked over the edge of the bed at the sleeping Howletts. "Should we wake them?" he asked, both to the girls and Jubilee.

But Elin reached up and grabbed his sleeve gently before she very slowly shook her head 'no'.

He grinned at her and grabbed her hand to pull her over for a little kiss on the cheek. "Well then, I'll just have to spend some time with my favorite girls right here until they wake up," he said.

"You might be waiting a while," Jubilee said in a much more normal tone as she watched them sleeping. "I'd take theirs out of here, but I definitely wouldn't want to be around when they woke up."

"Well, if they are that soundly asleep, I see no reason not to stay where all our children are."

Jubilee nodded. "I'll go let Hank know. It's been a while since Logan's let himself get this run down, though.… I'd guess probably about as long as it's been since he fought Creed." She gestured at the two of them. "Healing coma. You could set a bomb off next to them and they wouldn't flinch."

"I'm vaguely familiar," he said with a small smirk as he reached over to snag Sying and kiss the little boy on the top of the head.

"Just pointing out you're not that special," she said, drawing her shoulder up to her ear.

"Well that's just untrue. I'm one of a kind," he said with a crooked grin.

"Yes. They only ever needed one Space Goat."

He let out a sigh. "Is that name going to stick more than Bug Boy?"

"I guess we'll have to run it past Logan to see for sure," she teased with a wink before she bounced out of the room.

"You and Mom are loud," Sying told Noh as he climbed back out of Noh's arms so he could sit in between Kari and Krissy at the edge of the bed. "Shhhh. We're watching a movie."

"Yeah, Dad," Melody giggled.

"Shhh," Chance said, waving his hand at them, totally entranced by Clint Eastwood on the screen.

"Chance wants to be a cowboy," Krissy giggled delightedly.

"Shhhh," he responded, grinning.

It wasn't long at all before Scott arrived, having dropped Azazel in the cell that both Mystique and Sabretooth had recently occupied. He frowned at the two Howletts passed out on the bed, but before he could say anything about it, Chloe was attached to his leg and grinning broadly up at him. "Up?" she asked with wide eyes, and that was it — he hoisted her up and sat down with her, since clearly, the kids weren't going to go anywhere until the movie was over anyway.

"Did you get in trouble?" Charlie asked in a low whisper as she pulled herself up to climb into his lap on the other side from Chloe.

"What makes you think I got in trouble?" Scott asked her.

She wrinkled up her nose. "No lying, Dad."

He raised an eyebrow at her, but she just held his gaze with her chin thrust out, and he let out a breath. "Yeah, we got into a little trouble," he said with a nod.

"I thought so." She nodded sagely. "But you all got home now, right?"

He nodded. "Safe and sound."

"Sorta."

"We're just a little tired," Scott admitted. Then, because she looked like she might press him on it, he scooped Charlie up a little closer. "And hungry," he teased as he pretended to try to eat her — and it was impossible for her to play investigator when she and Chloe both were laughing that hard.

In fact, the girls were laughing hard enough that Chance turned around to shush the whole group of them. "Da-a-a-ad."

Charlie stuck her tongue out at her brother. "Just 'cause you wanna watch the movie instead of snuggle!"

"Shhhhh." He stuck his tongue right back out. "You're not snuggling; you're being loud."

"You both being loud," Kari pointed out with a little sniff. "Shush."

Sying giggled as Chance looked perfectly abashed. "She told you."

Chance pulled a face at him, but saying anything would just mean he was being loud, so he crossed his arms and went back to watching the Old Western shootout on the screen. Silence reigned in the room for a while as the Howletts — and several of the youngest in the group — slept through the movie while everyone else watched, until Kurt and Kate arrived together.

Kurt frowned when he saw that Logan and K were still asleep, though he didn't say anything for as quickly as Kate brushed past Kurt, headed right for where Kaleb was completely asleep and curled up in between Jubilee and the half-Kree twins. Jubilee scooted over the slightest bit so that Kate could scoop up the little boy and snuggle him, totally wrapped up in watching her perfect little boy sleep safely.

Kari and Krissy glanced at each other, and the girls nodded once as they climbed down from their perch on either side of Sying to go straight to Kurt, tugging on his arms on either side of him. "You and Mom need hugs," Kari explained as she pulled him and Krissy tried to lead the way back to their snuggle spot.

Kurt let the little girls lead him along until he was seated where they were and both of them had climbed into his sides. "I always love hugs from my princesses."

"It's 'cause you love us," Kari giggled.

"Yes, of course," he agreed as he kissed the top of her head.

"We missed Papa kisses," Krissy told him seriously. "Uncle Billy and Uncle Teddy aren't the same."

"They do love you," Kurt told her as he kissed her head too.

"Well duh." She rolled her eyes. "Everybody loves us."

"Of course they do," he agreed softly before Chance shushed them.

"Now _you _are being loud," he said, and Kari scrunched up her nose to make a face at him.

Finally, the last to join their group were Annie and Rachel, with food for everyone that had been stuck in Mojo's dimension for the past couple of days.

"Oh… and I made extra just for them," Annie said with a little sigh when she saw that the Howletts were asleep.

"We're taking bets on how long they'll be out now," Jubilee told her. "It's been ages since this happened."

"He passed out like this on my couch when I first met him," Kate agreed, trying to reassure Annie that this wasn't _too _far out of the realm of normal with everything else she had been through.

"No he didn't," Kurt argued with a little frown. "You told me you met him on the helicarrier."

"Well, _after _that — remember, when we met Sinister?" She paused. "Okay, so it was Clint's couch, but still. Totally counts."

"It does not," he argued with a little smirk. "You'd been following us around for a while when that happened."

"It was all the same trip," she said, waving her hand airily at him with the arm that wasn't holding Kaleb tight.

"That trip lasted for weeks," Kurt said with a growing smile. "So I can see why you're getting confused over it."

"Confused nothing. You're the one who forgot the day-long snuggle fest while we waited for him to come back," she shot back. "You must be getting old."

"You always say that," Krissy said, wrinkling her nose at her mom as she and Kari repositioned themselves so that Annie could start doling out food; the Summers women had even brought snacks for the kids.

"Because he's so _distinguished_," Kate said with a playful grin Kurt's way.

Rachel almost snorted as she made her way over to pick up the freshly awakened Sadie — very gently. "You look hungry, little one," she said quietly, snuggling her to her side. "And you—" she said, pointing to James and Elin, "—should probably snuggle up somewhere else tonight."

"They can stay with us," Annie said, smirking when Chance very quickly nodded his agreement.

"Uh-huh, yeah, we can have a sleepover," he said, nodding several times over.

"You think you could stand to stay with us, bud?" Scott asked, leaning over to James with a smirk.

"Oh-kay," he sang out in an almost down tone even as he slid off the bed to go to him.

"Yeah, I know — we'll get you back to your parents as soon as they're up," Scott said, shaking his head at the little boy and pulling him into the snuggle with his girls.

"You're both silly," Charlie said, rolling her eyes at the boys.

"You like silly," Elin pointed out.

"That's my _brother_, not me," Charlie giggled.

"Nu-uh," Cody sang out. "You just _pretend _to be growed up."

"Are you sure you're up for everyone at once?" Kate asked, more to Annie than anyone else.

Annie glanced over at the snuggled up Kate and nodded. "Oh, I've got this," she said. "You're right where you need to be."

Kate smiled at that and kissed the top of Kaleb's head before she nodded her agreement.

And at that, Chance just let out a frustrated noise. "I'm never gonna get to watch my movie."

Krissy laughed and reached over her father's arm to push Chance. "You're silly."

"I wanna see cowboys!"

"We'll watch it again, okay? Everybody wants to snuggle right now," she said, her lips pursed in her sassiest expression.

Chance let out a sigh. "Fine," he said — though he didn't seem to mind when Annie sat down, at last, beside him and brought him over to pull him into a hug.

The movie didn't last much longer than the food did, and with the kids all snuggled with the parents that they had been sorely missing, the room started to empty — starting with the Wagners, who simply teleported out once Kari had fallen asleep on Kurt's lap.

"What's the bet at right now?" Rachel asked before Jubilee could leave.

"Tomorrow afternoon," she replied. "That's where my money is anyhow… they were babysitting before they came after us, right? So … nothing good to eat for them either for a couple days. All popcorn and goldfish and whatever the kids would go along with." She was smirking slightly at the mental image.

"They probably passed out because they _didn't _go right to the kitchen right off," Scott said as he glanced their way again. "They're going to look like hell when they do wake up."

Annie let out a hum at that. "Well. I made plenty; they'll restock when they're up.

"And stand back when they do," Jubilee pointed out. "He doesn't like to get that low, I'm sure _she _hates it."

"I'll just make sure the kitchen is stocked," Annie said, then paused and smirked. "After all, this time, I know they'll eat it."

"Just don't … force them to eat a ton of sugar," Jubilee giggled. "I've done it before; it's not nearly as satisfying as you think."

"Honey, I know the drill. There's plenty of chicken and a good roast I can start up tomorrow. Protein it is."

"But … you have to admit, the imagery is pretty funny," Jubilee said with a grin.

"It would be funnier this time of year with all the leftover Christmas candy too," Annie said, leaning forward with a little smile that had Jubilee positively cackling with delight.

Rachel, however, was quietly standing off to the side with her head tipped sideways, frowning at the two sleeping Howletts. It was rare for her to take advantage — she knew for a fact that Logan hated it — but…. The others had let slip already that something had transpired that none of them had heard, and she knew how nasty Creed could be on a good day — let alone when he was so clearly plotting.

"I'm … going to leave you guys to finish up," Rachel said with a little forced smile. "It's been a long day." Before any of them could even begin to call her out, she rushed out and slipped down the hall, already calling mentally for Bobby. _Are you up for a little trip? _

_Always_, was the nearly immediate response. _Where were you thinking? _

_Mojoworld_, was her short response. _We can't allow him to continue what he's been doing all these years. Not with what I just plucked out of Logan and K's heads. _

Bobby was already running down to where she was. _I hate him as much as the next guy, but why the sudden rush?_

Rachel just shook her head and projected to him parts of the conversation between Creed and K, and simply pointed out that the head to head would not have happened without Mojo's doing — and that if he hadn't sent Creed back to Earth already, they needed to fix that little mess too, if they could. _He's going to keep meddling _— _and being worse about it. That was intended to kill one of the women. The layout... _She paused and took a shaky breath. _Spiral said who K's back up was supposed to be after the fact. It would have been bad._

_Yeah no kidding, _Bobby said as he finally rounded the corner to where she was and caught up to her.

"No," she said seriously. "Team-shattering bad. I just need to get a hold of Victor to see what his real plan was to know exactly how bad it _could _have been." The fire was dancing behind her eyes already.

He crossed the span between them and wrapped her up. "One thing at a time, maybe? Do you want to take on Mojo or Sabretooth first, because I'll follow you wherever, you know I will—"

"Bobby ... you know it would make life easier to do both at once," she replied.

"If he's still with Mojo," Bobby pointed out.

"If he's not, we'll find him with Cerebro later. Obviously, he couldn't get by Noh's security measures or it would have been lively a long time ago." Rachel looked ready to spit nails.

"Yeah, but if he knows all the kids, I know I'll sleep better knowing he's not, like, at the elementary school," Bobby agreed with a dark sort of look.

"Yeah, I'm going to let Dad know as we leave not to let the kids go anywhere until we have this figured out," she agreed. "So the question is: what's the best method to get to Mojoworld without Spiral? I mean, we've never _wanted _to go."

Bobby rested one arm around her as he passed the other through his hair while he thought on it. "Didn't America bring some of 'em back?" he asked. "I thought I saw her around the place — unless she's gone again?"

"Yes," Rachel replied, concentrating to look for her. "She punched Spiral…" She projected out when she found her: _If you're game, Miss America, we could use some help cracking a few skulls. _

America's response — from a little further out from the mansion on her way back to Lucy — was quick. _My favorite kind of party. What's up?_

_The creep that took our friends needs to die. And we need to both get there and make sure his freaky portal maker doesn't yank him out before the job is done. _

_Oh, I'm so there. That chick is stealing my schtick breaking into dimensions. _America was clearly turning around and on her way back by then. _Who's 'us'? _

_You, me, and Iceman. _

_So I'm chaperoning a date, _America laughed.

_Yes, we'll go with that for my father's blood pressure. _

_Chica, if you think having _me _as a chaperone would lower _anyone's _blood pressure you clearly haven't spent enough time with me, _America replied.

Rachel just smirked her way. _Alright then. Put your money where your mouth is. We've got a gigantic creep to find._

* * *

It took a little while for the Summerses to get all the kids re-settled after the movie and after they had left the Howletts' room with the tiny ferals in tow as well. Chance in particular was all keyed up over the gunfights and kept climbing on the furniture, shooting fake bad guys with finger guns and falling over 'dead' when someone 'shot' him.

Cody probably would have joined in the fun more if he hadn't been so tired, but he was dragging his feet the whole way as Sadie snuggled into Scott's shoulder in the short time it took them to go from the Howlett's suite to their own — with Chloe asleep with her thumb in her mouth on Annie's shoulder.

Finally, _finally_, Elin got Chance to stop playing around long enough to snuggle up in bed, and by then, he was so tickled to have his best friends there with them for the night, he dropped off before Charlie did, curled up with both Elin and James as his sister was more than happy to curl up in Scott's lap as he read her stories as he always did.

When Charlie was at last sleeping soundly in her bunk bed that she shared with Chance, Scott closed to door to her room and tiredly headed back to his own, where Annie was waiting up for him. He wasn't sure if he was surprised or not that she _had _waited up, since she had been so mad before, and if she didn't want to talk, she certainly would have just gone to sleep for as tired as she had to be from the whole ordeal.

"Are you alright?" he asked as he sat down next to her, and she raised a single eyebrow at him. He blew out his breath and rubbed the back of his neck. "Right."

"How are the kids holding up?" she asked as she leaned back into the pillows on her side. "We were gone for a few days."

"They'll need some extra attention for a while," Scott said. "Sounded to me like Charlie was trying to look out for everyone."

"Of course," Annie said.

"She's just like her mother," he said with an attempt at a little smirk.

She let out a huff of breath his way but couldn't help but smirk for that one. "And what about the others? You've got Kurt's father all squared away somewhere he can't be _horrible_?"

"Yeah," Scott said with a little nod. "Don't worry." He paused and rubbed his neck again. "But what about _you_?"

"I'm just tired, Scott," she said.

He frowned and very gently scooted over, reaching out to pull her a little closer, and when she didn't push him away, he pulled her a little more until they were curled up together, his arms around her middle, though she wasn't facing him still. "I'm sorry," he whispered quietly.

"Do you even know what you're apologizing for?" she asked, shaking her head in gentle disbelief.

He frowned to himself, remembering his conversation with Jubilee as he ran the many, many possibilities over in his mind. "Annie," he said very quietly. "You have to know… I would _never _leave. Not you, not the kids. It's just not going to happen."

Annie let out a sigh as she finally turned in his arms to face him. "I know that," she said. "But you don't, and that's what bothers me."

He frowned at her. "I don't…"

"You think so little of yourself that you won't even stand up for yourself on the simplest of accusations," she accused him. "How hard is it to say 'you're wrong' to that woman, Scott?"

"I thought I was doing a pretty good job of that for a while there," he pointed out.

"Oh yes. Any time she mentioned me. Or Jean, even. How is it that you can defend us so well but the second it's your life…" She let out a breath and then shook her head. "Scott, I'm not mad at anything she brought up from your past. It was off-putting to hear it secondhand, sure, but I've _never _once doubted that you would stand by me and the kids."

He relaxed a bit on hearing it and rested his head on her shoulder as he pulled her a little closer. "I'm sorry you had to hear all that."

"Scott…" She shook her head. "Don't you listen, Mr. Summers?"

He picked up his head.

"I _told _you. Rachel already walked me through the history. That's not what bothers me. It's that _you _still believe everything that woman told you." She readjusted herself so that she was looking him in the eyes. "It's that you and I have worked for ten years to build this beautiful life we have, and in two days, you're convinced it's something _fragile_. Don't you have any faith in us?"

"That … No. that isn't the case at all."

Annie shook her head. "I wish I could believe that," she said quietly. "But every time this comes up, you panic like you're convinced the world will come down around you. And every time, I've done everything I can. I've taken lessons from K, I've worked with you to keep our family safe — what do you need to see before you _have a little trust_?"

He stared at her, slowly and quietly shaking his head. "You…" He swallowed and tried again. "Annie, I _know _... you ... you've done _more _than your fair share keeping up with this life… It's not fair of me to ask—"

"Well, that's the problem right there," Annie interrupted him, glaring. "At what point in our wedding vows did you hear 'except if you're an X-Man'?"

"What?"

"We stand _together_, you idiot," she said. "You keep me safe; I keep you whole. That's how this works, Mr. Summers."

"And do you know what happens if I can't keep you safe?" Scott asked at last. "Because I do. I've watched it happen before. Over and over again."

"I know; I've heard the stories," Annie said.

Scott shook his head. "It's not just the Phoenix. I know you've heard that part of it." He took a long, deep breath. "Emma wasn't wrong about everything," he said, and when Annie opened her mouth to argue, he held up a hand between them. "No, listen. I did — _I _did make some horrible choices. I hurt the family I was supposed to cherish and protect. When I screw up, I take dozens — hundreds of people with me. It's not just about Jean." He shook his head. "I know everyone thinks it was. _I _thought it was for a long time. But I had an entire lifetime of bad decisions behind me before I met you, and one of these days, it's going to catch up to us the way it caught up to everything else I've done."

Annie paused as she watched him for a long moment. "Hasn't it already?" she asked at last, very softly.

"What?"

"Everything that happened with that… that man. And with the Hellfire Club. Everything that's happened with the MRD and with every other problem we've faced," she listed off. "I'm still standing right here, and even if I wasn't — Scott, I wouldn't take back one word of the vows I gave you. You don't think I knew what I was getting into? You clearly haven't been paying attention."

"I'm just trying to keep the same thing from happening again," Scott tried to explain.

"And you do wonderfully," she said. She smirked at him for a moment. "I don't even have powers, and you and I have managed to have a perfectly happy family for _ten years_. How's that, Mr. Summers?"

"It's the best thing that's happened to me," he told her gently, and she actually smiled at that.

"And you are the best thing that's happened to me," she said. "So stop trying to convince yourself you're anything but."

"I'm not trying to do that," he argued.

"No, you just let it happen," she said, rolling her eyes at him. She let out a long breath. "I'm just asking you to stop treating this family like it's going to fall apart at any moment. We're not made of glass, and you're not the man you were however many years ago you broke _someone else's _heart. You're certainly not going to break mine."

"Annie," he started to say, but when she raised an eyebrow at him, he dropped it. "I'm sorry," he said quietly.

The slightest of smiles touched her expression, and she leaned forward to kiss his cheek. "And this time, you know what for," she whispered.


	9. Three People You Don't Want Mad at You

**Chapter 9: "Three People You Don't Want Mad at You"**

America had to go through a few routes to find Mojo again, since he had already moved on from the arena where he had the X-Men, considering it to be "boring" now that no one was there and fighting.

Her favorite dealer of interdimensional oddities, Arnold, promised her that Mojo was setting up shop just a handful of dimensions over, so from there, it was really only a straight shot — and she definitely had enough rage fueling her to punch through a few more dimensions.

"I'm probably going to need you to remind me of something one of those slimeballs said to Kate or K or somebody when we head back," America told Rachel. "Stronger emotions, stronger portals — and I'm getting tapped out."

"I can do one better," Rachel said. "I can _replay it _for you from what I got from K. Just try not to shatter whole dimensions on our way back."

"Not gonna be a problem. I'll only break 'em," America replied with a smirk. "Billy's the only one with _that _kind of juice."

"You say that now," Bobby said grimly, already well aware of what had gone down, since Rachel had filled him in almost immediately.

"Well we can always go find a big cat later, and I can give the earth two more tiny, hairy moons," America said with a shrug. "Won't take more than a second." She adjusted her hoodie so that it was sitting better on top of her curls. "Then we'll make a final stop at the school and I'll neuter the other one."

With that, and a bit of a flourish, America kicked out, shattering a five-pointed white star into a new dimension where, indeed, it looked like Mojo was setting up. There was a whole bunch of camera equipment along with walls and walls of screens, all showing some poor saps who were about to be the next Mojovision special. The man himself was on the far end of the room muttering and spluttering, and Spiral was standing a few feet further back from him, watching him with a look on her face that clearly showed how much she didn't want to be there while his back was turned.

America went straight for Spiral, since both Rachel and Bobby had informed her that she was Mojo's escape route. Plus, she really wanted a round two with this woman.

In a flash, America had connected her fist with Spiral's jaw, and the woman went reeling backwards. She could hear Mojo shrieking for reinforcements, but America was just getting warmed up, honestly.

Spiral pulled out her swords, but America grinned. This was why she'd asked Rachel to have some horrible news in reserve — she planned to use up plenty of her powers getting rid of those pesky arms. The first sword that Spiral swung in America's direction, she ducked and grabbed at the hilt, and when Spiral moved to pull free, at the same time swinging down three other swords, America dropped, pulling the six-armed woman with her over her head until Spiral was better positioned under her feet.

_Flash_.

The portal America opened up lit up Spiral's whole arm, but it was small enough that it just took an arm with it.

"Well, that one's dancing in the Ortunian Nebula," America grinned maliciously. "And the next one… I'm thinking supernova, what about you?"

Spiral bared her teeth at America and charged forward, five remaining swords coming into play as she twirled and sliced her way closer. This time without the element of surprise on her side, America was forced to back up a little bit. She was only _nearly _invulnerable, after all, and a sharp enough blade, a hard enough hit could do some real damage.

Spiral had managed to cut a slice through America's hoodie — though it didn't break the skin; it wasn't a hard enough hit — when America finally saw her opening and reached out to grab one of the swords in her hand. She caught it in mid-swing, grinned at Spiral's surprised expression, and then pulled hard, nearly dislodging Spiral's grip on the sword and pulling her several steps forward.

Spiral saw the kick coming and not only spun to avoid it but sliced down with two swords — and that was the first time Spiral drew blood in the fight as she managed to get both points in America's leg, though America still kicked one of her arms into a supernova anyway.

America cried out, and Spiral tried to press the advantage, but instead of backing up, America darted forward faster than Spiral could react and punched her hard enough that she was bleeding freely from her mouth. "Don't make me take off more than just the metal stuff, because I will," America warned.

Spiral gritted her teeth at America and then pressed forward once more. "Try it again and we'll see who runs out of limbs first," she shot back, gesturing with one sword to America's bleeding leg.

"Oh, it'll be you," America promised as she dove right back in.

This time, Spiral switched tactics into a more defensive mode, at one point reaching out a hand to try and open a portal. America let out a little disbelieving sound and got in between Spiral and the portal. "Where you gonna go? I'll just come with and we'll do this dance all the way across reality," she sneered before she laid into Spiral all over again, tearing one sword out of her hands as she flat out ignored her bleeding palms and legs to tear Spiral down piece by piece.

She was so focused on what she was doing that she didn't notice Bobby pause in what he and Rachel were up to to throw America a little extra help, icing the ground directly underneath Spiral (and nowhere else) so that Spiral came crashing down to the ground.

America pounced, pounding on Spiral with absolutely everything she had. When finally Spiral went limp, America took a second to catch her breath, her chest heaving, before she stood back and pushed her hair out of her face and back into the hoodie, which had fallen down around her neck while she worked.

She cleared her throat and turned back to where Bobby and Rachel were — only to find an unexpectedly bright and fiery sight.

While Spiral had been occupied with America, Bobby and Rachel were dealing with Mojo — and the ever present cameras caught every single second as Bobby froze the creep's metal legs to the ground. As soon as he was immobile, Rachel lifted off the ground, fire in her eyes and encompassing her. Bobby rushed out of the way, and the whole room filled with light as those not in Rachel's path got smart and got _out _of the way.

America followed Bobby as they made way, taking relative shelter in a booth that held some of the recording equipment that had locked onto Rachel rising higher and looking furious. America was just watching the whole thing with wide eyes and steadily raised eyebrows, but Bobby had seen some recording equipment _in _the booth and got a huge sort of grin on his face as he realized he had access to a microphone and a live Mojovision audience.

"Aaand we'd like to thank everyone's favorite interdimensional traveler, America Chavez, for being the warmup act for the _final_ episode of Mojovision," Bobby said, seizing the microphone with his best announcer voice. When America shot him a dry look for that one, he shrugged at her. "What? It's true. Look at her and tell me she's not totally the main event."

"Biased," America accused him.

"Not even sorry," he shot back, grinning wider before he turned back to the microphone. The booth they were in had one glass wall — reinforced — so that they could see what was going on on the other side, and already, they could tell it just wasn't going to be nice for Mojo.

Rachel had started off by completely paralyzing him mentally so that he couldn't make a move to stop her, and from there, she just raised her arms, and the equipment all around Mojo simply started to disintegrate, flakes of metal and wiring rising into the air all around Mojo in seemingly slow motion as his entertainment empire quite literally unraveled, piece by tiny piece, in front of his eyes.

"You want a show, Mojo? Here's a great show. It's called: Don't Piss Off My Girl or She'll Destroy Everything You Hold Dear," Bobby cackled delightedly.

"This is why you like her, isn't it?" America asked over his shoulder.

"Eyes front, Chavez. She's taken," Bobby replied without missing a beat.

"So am I, but I can appreciate the view," America replied, and Bobby just chuckled and shook his head.

The debris rose around Mojo as he watched, wide-eyed and snivelling, calling for Spiral or anyone to put an end to this, but the simple fact was that nothing was going to stop Rachel, and what's more, the debris was starting to look a little more heated, steam on the edges of some of the pieces.

"Your girlfriend's hot," America said.

"Oooh, that was horrible," Bobby said, wincing theatrically.

"You were so thinking it."

"I absolutely was," he agreed.

America snorted at him as they watched Rachel rising steadily higher, the pieces of equipment around her turning to ashes rather than debris.

"Now she's smoking hot," America said.

"Hey now," Bobby said.

"I know; I beat you to it, and I'm not sorry."

"Just so you know you stole my line," Bobby countered with a smirk as Rachel made her way up to them, a small device in the palm of her hand.

"I have what we need, I think," she said as she handed it to Bobby and stole an actual steaming kiss.

"Whatcha got?" America asked, since Bobby was clearly too distracted and grinning to ask the important questions.

"A little information, I think," Rachel told her. "But we can go over it when we get back. Mojoworld always creeps me out."

"Agreed," Bobby said, then held up the microphone for her. "Final sign out's all yours if you want it," he teased.

"I'll leave that to America," Rachel laughed. "She earned it."

"I don't know; the spectacular dismantling of the entire thing…" America gestured at the control center. "Can we set it on fire as we leave?"

Rachel just gave her a look. "What do _you _think?"

"I'm just asking if I need to find matches or if you want to play in the steam room."

"I'll take the sauna at home, in privacy, thanks so much," she countered before everything America had been pointing toward simply burst into flames. "And if you tell Logan I did that for you, I will come after you."

"Cross my heart," America laughed, then wrinkled her nose. "Eww. Do you think he'll shrivel up like a slug in there, because I do _not _need to see that," she added, realizing that setting things on fire with Mojo _might _have been a bad idea.

"Can we _not stick around _for that?" Bobby asked.

"Right. One exit coming up," America said with a nod as she raised her arms and her eyes glowed white just before a star appeared and she kicked through it. "That's it for me, you two. I am dimensioned out," she told them as she ushered them through into their home dimension — into the living room of the mansion at well past midnight. She waved them both off with one hand. "You have fun with that. Call me when we're finding the giant cat… in the morning." She stretched and yawned to emphasize the point.

"Just come by when you're ready," Rachel said. "Dad will want as much intel as he can get before that starts up."

"That's why you're my favorite Summers — a little arson, some spontaneity… you're smoking hot, too…"

"Well, I am half Grey," she pointed out.

"That must be it," America said with a grin before she smirked Bobby's way, leaned over, and kissed Rachel's cheek. "Try not to get too steamy. I hear that's how you get mold and mildew," she said over her shoulder as she headed for the door.

"Only when there's not enough heat," Rachel countered.

"Well that depends on whose room it is, doesn't it?" America called back.

"Not really," Bobby laughed.

"So that's a 'yes' on moved in," America said with a twinkle in her eyes. "I didn't know you two were so _serious_."

"Well, we might be moving faster than you and a certain paramedic …" Bobby drifted off with a shrug.

America waved her hand. "Oh please. Lucy's already talking about at least getting a dog if nothing else. We're set. _Been _set."

"She sounds nervous to me, does she sound nervous to you?" Bobby mock whispered. "Because she _seems _to be trying to convince someone that they're 'set'. Whatever that means."

America leveled a finger his way. "Careful, Iceboy. Glass houses."

"Not my fault you're afraid to be Mrs. America."

"I'm not even a _citizen _of this _dimension_," she pointed out.

"You say that like we haven't forged documents before," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Lucy's a proper girl; none of that now," America said with a crooked grin.

"So … is that your way of saying that Logan and K aren't really married? I'm sure Kurt will take that well."

America rolled her eyes. "It's my way of saying I'm not _forging _anything. Now… maybe in a dimension with better _rules_…"

"Chicken Hawk 2.0."

America stuck her tongue out at him. "Says the snowman who can't get past the steam room stage."

He held his hands out to both sides. "Hey. I'm not holding anything up."

"So what's the deal? I can send Cyclops to a different dimension temporarily if need be," America offered. "Send him with Annie so it's a nice romantic getaway."

"No," Rachel said, shaking her head with a little smirk. "Not unless you want to see how laser face-proof you are."

"I'm pretty tough," America pointed out. "And your dad has issues hitting girls."

"Well he's never had anyone conspire to get him in a different dimension while his daughter ran off to get married."

"But you'd like to run off?" America grinned impishly.

Rachel put her hands on her hips. "Didn't you say you were tired?"

"I also said I'd send Annie with him… maybe you'd even have another little sibling by the time they got back…"

"Good _night _America," Rachel said, chuckling to herself.

"Just think about it is all I'm saying!" America called over her shoulder as she left.

She was barely out the window and on her way when Rachel projected out to her. _Besides, that would just be way too weird to have a kid at the same time as Annie. Don't do that. _

America hit the ground with a _thud_ and then picked herself back up, totally wide-eyed and barrelling back to the house to stick her head in the window. "WHAT?"

"I said 'Goodnight, America'," Rachel replied, just as relaxed as anything. "Are you okay?"

"Am _I_… Are _you _okay?"

"I'm perfectly fine," she replied, though Bobby was in stitches by that point.

"You crash-landed," Bobby laughed, flat on the ground with his hands over his stomach. "Best thing I've ever seen you do. She's style and she's grace … she falls flat on her face …"

"She's gonna have to hide you in another dimension when Cyclops finds out," America countered, pointing a finger his way.

"Nah, it'll be fine. Especially after he does the math," Bobby said, still wiping tears from his eyes.

"I hate to break it to you, ice cube, but the math is what gives it away."

_I kept my name,_ Rachel projected.

America gaped at both of them for a moment, and Bobby started laughing all over again. "You couldn't wait 'til she was flying again?" he asked Rachel. "I want to see a repeat performance."

Rachel grinned his way. "Pretty sure we could come up with something to throw her."

"Your dad is going to have hernia," America said, shaking her head. "When… there are so many 'when's here."

"See you in the morning — ish," Bobby said as he finally, _finally _got to his feet, still holding his stomach. "Oh. That was fun. Who's next?"

"_This doesn't answer any of my questions_," America pointed out in a terse near-whisper.

_We eloped a while ago, _Rachel told her. _No rings to tip off bad guys. _

_You know the rest of the mansion is wearing rings at this point; not like it's gonna stick out, _America replied with a smirk.

_I'll think about it,_ she countered. _If you want to go pick something out for Lucy, you can even help me decide. _

_Hey, if you think we've been together this long and I don't know exactly what she wants, you're not as psychic as you think you are. _

"Good night, America," Rachel laughed. "I meant help _me _decide. He's more white gold, and I'm clearly a 24-karat type."

"Clearly," America agreed with a laugh before she rushed over to kiss Rachel's cheek again. "Text me before you tell more people. I want to see the earthbound equivalent of a crash landing."


	10. Better Without Me

**Chapter 10: "Better Without Me"**

It was mid-morning when Hank finally got moving again. After the excitement of the night and the late hours he pulled trying to decipher how severe Kurt's injuries were in conjunction to Azazel's actual injuries … he'd stayed up far too late. So he was fully expecting the normal argument and complaints from the Demon King when he arrived to inform him that he'd arranged for transportation with the Avengers to a new cell — just for him. Out of the general population, out of danger, and nigh impossible for him to harm himself just for attention.

"I'm sure you're more than ready for a cup of coffee at least," Hank said, though his words dropped off to nothing when he realized that the cell was empty. "Oh, dear." He headed for his desk to call for help, while also mentally calling for Rachel, Jubilee — either would do. _There has been a security breach with our not-so-welcome guest. _

Rachel was the one to respond — Jubilee was probably still asleep after the whole ordeal — though even her mental voice sounded tired. _I'll find him, _she promised.

_I'm still locking the place down,_ Hank replied just an instant before he hit the button that would do precisely that — though this new system did so silently, so as not to alarm either the troublemaker or the residents, instead sending out a specific text to the staff members.

In an instant, the entire senior staff had been alerted, and those that were awake were already rushing to help with the search while the others found themselves rudely awakened with the loud tone that an emergency text like that made.

With Noh still recovering, Forge and Storm headed out to check the perimeter alarms and see if anything had been set off to show that Azazel had left. Rachel was reaching out mentally; Mistral was a breeze through the grounds… everyone responded in some way or another.

Though they could have saved a whole lot of time and trouble if they had simply gone straight to Kate and Kurt's suite.

When the alarm went through to their phones, the two of them had startled awake, and of course, when they saw the security alert, they knew it had to be something carried over from the last two days — either Azazel or Sabretooth, most likely. So Kate grabbed her bow and Kurt grabbed his swords from where their weapons were locked away so the kids couldn't reach them and accidentally hurt themselves — and after peeking in on the girls' room to see that both Kari and Krissy were perfectly fine, they checked Kaleb's to see that things were decided _not_ fine.

There was Azazel with the sleeping little boy in the crook of his elbow, clearly having just resettled the little elfling after plucking him from his crib. When he saw the two of them burst in with fury in their gazes, he simply gave them both a lazy grin.

"Oh, don't get up; we were just leaving," Azazel said as he rearranged Kaleb.

"Not with him you're not," Kate nearly snarled as Kurt teleported closer, his swords sheathed for the moment because Kaleb was in the way.

"My dear, we made a deal," Azazel said in that same lazy tone.

"And you _lost_," Kate shot back, her voice higher and barely on the verge of panic as Kaleb started to stir awake and Azazel simply held him that much tighter.

"I didn't lose to _you_," Azazel said.

"You didn't _win _either," Kurt pointed out.

"If you'd prefer, we can finish our game here and I can run her through in your own room," Azazel promised Kurt with a little laugh.

"I'm sure that the game was a draw at least," Kurt replied in an almost consoling tone. "Even if it did end in you bleeding and unconscious." Before Azazel could reply, Kurt teleported in, snatched up Kaleb lightly, and teleported back.

As soon as Kurt and Kaleb were out of her line of fire, Kate drew back her bow with a tranquilizer arrow — since she couldn't risk anything fatal with this guy, annoyingly. But before the arrow could hit home, Azazel murmured a word that rang with magic and disappeared, seeming to fade out of the air right in front of them.

Kate swore loudly before she dropped her bow to her side and then turned to Kurt and Kaleb — who was very confused by the whole thing and seemed to be trying to decide if it was worth crying over or not. Kurt was already whispering comforting things in German as Kate stood on her toes to kiss Kurt and then Kaleb, relieved that things had not gone any worse.

"I hate magic. I hate your dad," Kate said in a low tone to Kurt as she brushed some of Kaleb's curls from his forehead and ruffled his hair so they fell in his eyes all over again, getting a little giggle out of him. "I hate that he _knows _magic. That's just cheating."

"You and me both," Kurt agreed. "And perhaps we can find some way to bind him. There _must _be a way."

"First, let's find a way to keep him _away _from Kaleb," Kate said, her heart still hammering in her ears from the panic of seeing Azazel with her little boy.

"Agreed," Kurt said as he ran a hand over Kaleb's head. "Let's get this little sleepyhead downstairs with the other little ones."

"And tell the rest of the team what's up so they can keep an eye out for our little sleepyhead in the meantime," Kate agreed, squeezing Kurt's arm as she went to go find her girls, who were also starting to wake up at the excitement across from their room. _He's gone, _she projected out to Rachel as she did so. _He was here, but he's gone now. _

_We're gathering up in the War Room, _Rachel replied.

_We'll meet you there after we get the kids resettled. He woke them up_.

* * *

In the War Room, the senior X-Men were gathering — since not everyone knew the full story of where their friends had been the past few days, and there were consequences that the whole team needed to be aware of.

America even came back, since she had been involved in getting to the group — and since she was half hoping that she'd be able to catch the look on Scott's face if Rachel got around to telling him what was going on.

She grinned at K as K and Logan were the last to arrive and waved her toward the seat beside her. "Just wait til we get to the video portion of the evening. Bobby and I are great at commentary," she said in a whisper.

"Oh? What were you up to then, troubles?" K asked as Logan took the seat America had saved, and then she simply used him for her chair.

"Oh, just proving once and for all who the best interdimensional traveler is," America said airily.

"You got my text then," she said, nodding. "As if you had competition."

"Right?" America grinned. "Six arms and I still knocked her out."

"Well. Too many cooks in the kitchen or something … gotta be an idiom that fits there."

America snorted. "I don't know. After that, I was too distracted telling Bobby his — ah — _girlfriend _that she is smoking hot," she said in a conspiratorial whisper, sure to catch Rachel's eye across the table.

"She is," K agreed. "And getting hotter all the time — fire and ice and all that noise."

"Steamy," America agreed, still grinning crookedly.

"Terrible for her hair, I'm sure. Nothing worse than a frizzy redhead."

"Speak for yourself; I like the frizzy look."

"Well not everyone can pull it off like you, sweetheart," K shot right back as she put her arm around Logan's shoulder and leaned in. "You need better furniture, sparkles."

"Alright," Scott said clearly to try and get everyone's attention. "A few of you know by now: eight of us ended up stuck in Mojoworld for a few days recently, and now we have to deal with the consequences." He shook his head. "Mojo arranged to bring a few of our biggest problems face to face with us — and we _had _Azazel here in the mansion until this morning, not to mention Sabretooth needs to be dealt with," he summed up.

"And those are the only two problems, since me and the wonder duo shriveled Mojo like a slug," America called out happily.

"Vaporized, actually," Rachel corrected. "He's not anyone's problem anymore."

"Bobby is a _great _announcer," America agreed. "We've got it on tape."

"Rachel also snagged some intel from Mojo on where he found all of you — and the people you were facing," Bobby chimed in. "It may be a relief to hear at least for you, Kurt: Mojo got your dad from prison."

"That isn't too comforting when he didn't return there," Kurt admitted.

Bobby shrugged at that. "Well, the other good news is Sabretooth wasn't anywhere near here when they got him."

"Where is he now?" Jubilee asked.

"Back where they got him," Rachel said. "Montana, actually."

"There goes the neighborhood," K muttered quietly.

"With both of them on the loose, we're going to need to take more precautions," Scott said frankly. "Sabretooth wasn't quiet about threatening Logan and K's kids, and Azazel nearly took Kaleb with him this morning."

"What the hell for? He lost," K said, sitting up a little straighter.

"His argument was that he didn't lose to _Kate_," Kurt explained, his tail switching behind him irritably.

"It's not her fault he didn't ask for his second," K replied. "He had a chance. He missed it."

"I don't know that there were seconds for the others," Kurt started to say.

"Those were the rules," Logan cut in. "They had them. Spiral was entertained that Emma didn't make it to the time mark to even try, though."

"Mojo _heavily _underestimated Annie," Scott said with a little smirk.

"What else is new?" Logan replied. "Not the first time he's underestimated a woman."

"That's what this whole thing was about anyway, wasn't it?" Kate grumbled.

"Yep," he admitted. "That's the long and short of it, anyhow."

"The point is that even if Mojo's not interfering anymore, he arranged for a few big problems to rear their ugly heads again," Scott said

"We're already working on the security for all three schools to make sure even the newer locations won't be vulnerable," Forge said, gesturing between himself and Noh. "The systems are already great, but we're going to have Strange take a look, maybe add a little magical protection, all things considered."

"And at least until this is settled, Annie's already called the school. We'll have the kids stay here, and she'll teach. There's no reason to risk them when there's a specific threat against them," Scott said.

"I can build another pod to launch Victor Creed into the stars," Noh offered with a smirk. "Someplace further from Shi'ar territory this time."

"I've got a few more permanent ideas," Logan admitted.

"Same for the creepy father-in-law," Kate grumbled. "You know, after we figure out how to break the spell he has on Kurt."

"What spell?" Storm asked with a deeply settled frown.

"He did something that makes it so Kurt suffers some of the same injuries he gets," K said. "It can't be all of them or he'd be in the ICU right now."

"Just the more serious or life-threatening ones," Hank said. "A comparison of the two of them showed that it was only those that would require a physician's care."

"So he's got a way to call for help so he doesn't die," Kurt summed up irritably.

"For an ex-demon, he sure is scared of dying and going to hell," America said with a smirk.

"I can't imagine anyone there that had to deal with him would be kind to him with the tables turned now," Kurt said with a little nod. "But regardless, he has found a way to keep any of _us _from wanting to finish him off, at least."

"We can adjust," K said, looking at Logan with a little smirk. "Anything that won't require medical intervention. No problem."

"As for Sabretooth," Scott said, then let out a sigh. "We'll just have to keep on the lookout. I've already had Rachel check, and I called a few officials in Montana — and he's not there anymore."

"Had the perfect escape into the vast emptiness of Evil-land," K muttered.

Kate smirked her way and mouthed "Canada racist" her way.

Scott gave them both a look, then turned his attention to Logan. "Once we catch Sabretooth…" He shook his head. "This is one of those rare times the rule doesn't apply."

"Yeah, don't think you could stop me anyhow."

"This time, you'll have the rest of the team on board," Scott pointed out. "Don't expect me to hold back either," he added with a smirk. "He did threaten my godson."

"Yeah, he did," Logan said, nodding to himself.

Storm leaned forward with her eyes flashing. "Don't expect me to hold back either," she said in a dangerous tone.

"Do you see anyone arguing with you? Please, by all means, do your worst," K said, though her tone was a little subdued.

"Well, if everyone's on board with tearing apart the kitty on the loose and finding a way to screw the demon… you should see what my friend Arnold snagged for me from the final Mojovision broadcast, because Bobby's skills as a commentator are golden," America said, holding up a little disc and waving it between her fingers.

Scott raised an eyebrow her way and then simply held his hand out for it. "You got it on film?"

"_Mojo _got it on film. _I _just happen to know a guy," America corrected him as she put it in his hand. "Fair warning — this film may be too much for your protective dad ears. We were commenting on how hot your daughter is."

Scott drew in a deep breath and pointedly tried to ignore her as the replay started up on the big screen situated at the far end of the room.

She wasn't kidding, though. The nature documentary voiceover from JJ's interviews were nothing compared to what Bobby had pulled with Mojo. The whole thing was focused on Mojo and Rachel in full Phoenix form concentrating on him and his machinery and tearing it all apart molecule by molecule.

The earlier serious mood from discussing how to deal with Azazel and Sabretooth gave way to chuckles and giggles as the team watched, and Kate even reached across the table to give Bobby a high five halfway through.

"That was quite the performance," Hank said with a little smile Bobby's way.

"It was spur of the moment," Bobby said, shrugging one shoulder up. "I ran with it."

"It was inspired," Kitty laughed.

"Why didn't anyone know about this mission?" Scott asked. "Before it happened, I mean."

"Ah, no one was going to interfere with the much-needed snuggle fest, and _I _am not an X-Man," America said as she tossed her hair over her shoulder.

"Yeah, but did any of you tell anyone where you were headed?" he challenged. "What was the backup plan if something went wrong?"

"First of all, excuse you, I tell Lucy everything," America said.

"Does your girlfriend have a way to handle extra dimensional travel that I'm not aware of?"

"She has a _phone_," America countered with one hand on her hips. "You know. To call people. And communicate." She looked Kate's way. "You're right. It's a language barrier."

"That's not what I meant," Scott said, shaking his head. "It would take us weeks to get to Mojo's … whatever the hell you want to call it. You went in blind."

"I went in with the Phoenix and Iceman. And me. There was no doubt how it was going to go down," America countered with her arms crossed.

"We had a chance to make sure Mojo can't bother anyone ever again," Rachel pointed out.

_Rachel, _K projected in her harshest tone. _Just apologize for now. Give it to him. He's freaking out as it is. _

_I wasn't wrong, _she replied.

_No you weren't, but he's in a mood _— _can't you see it? Cut the old man some slack. He already had to face Hurricane Annie._

Rachel smirked. _Fine. But only because he had to defuse that situation last night, _she replied.

_I will personally compile a list of all the ways you were right and cite examples of when he's done the same damn thing that I've seen. Tomorrow. _

_It's fine. But the thought is appreciated, _Rachel replied before she looked Scott's way. "We should have let Storm know," she said. "Or Billy — he can break through dimensions. But it's done now, alright? We're all fine. Sorry to scare you."

Scott crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow her way, then nodded once. "Alright. There's still a lot of set-up that needs doing — for the kids homeschooling and the schools and the security — so I won't keep you guys any longer," he said.

There was a big movement from the group as a whole, though the ferals weren't quite moving at the same pace yet, and frankly the big, drawn-out fight had taken a toll on them both. And neither of them was surprised in the least when Scott asked them to hang back for a minute.

"I know you probably both want to rest up, but there are still a few unanswered questions from yesterday," Scott told them both.

Logan nodded his head, though it was apparent almost right off the bat that they weren't on the same page. "We started looking for you two as soon as we figured out there was something wrong."

But Scott shook his head and held up a hand. "America filled us in on most of that while we were headed back, and Kitty filled in the blanks," he said. "I meant during the fight; the microphones and cameras didn't catch a lot of it, and I'm _sure _what was said was important.

Both of them looked like they'd rather find other conversation, but with a sigh, Logan started up. "He was bragging about having spied on the kids. Mostly. Detailing out everything about them, down to their favorite colors and who they played with. He was making sure we knew he'd focused on ours, but I'm not stupid enough to believe he wouldn't screw with one of the others just to leave a calling card."

Scott frowned but nodded. "I know — I just — I need to know what was said."

"He didn't _say _anything about anyone but our three," K clarified. "Unless he was referencing who they played with. No threats outside of ours happened."

"That doesn't make me feel any better, but it's good to know."

"Nor should it," she agreed.

Scott ran a hand over his hair and neck. "Alright. Was that everything?" he asked.

"Standard jackass threats to me," K said with a little shrug, though she was looking more to the table than anything else. "But nothing earth-shattering."

"He said something to you when Spiral showed up," Scott pointed out. "Another threat on the kids, or…?"

"No, that … was a warning," she admitted. "If I was dumb enough to call for help, he was going to more or less tear my head off and shred them the second they stepped through."

Scott frowned when he heard it. "And with the position he had you in…" He shook his head. "Bad timing."

She shrugged, rolling her eyes a bit. "It's a standing threat."

"And that was when Logan…"

"Snapped," Logan supplied.

Scott turned his way and tipped his head — not quite a nod but an acknowledgement all the same. "Right." He shook his head again. "One last thing: you mentioned Spiral saying she was entertained with Annie's fight — so you got to talk to her?"

"Little bit, yeah," Logan said, nodding. "She's not horrible when she's away from Mojo, you know."

"I know," Scott said.

"They were expecting Emma to win," Logan said. "Not for Annie to completely smoke her. So it kinda screwed with her odds when she won so soundly."

"And I'm glad for it," Scott said with a little smirk he couldn't help.

"She was the one he had picked to go in if I asked for help," K told him.

At that, Scott stopped, the news clearly giving him pause as he looked torn. "What?"

"Apparently, his ratings haven't been doing so great with you and I not at each other's throats," Logan told him.

Scott rolled his eyes. "Figures." He ran a hand over the back of his neck. "That was set up to get Annie or K killed, then. Or both," he said quietly.

"Both," Logan said. "He was gunning for both but he'd have been more than happy if it was just K."

"And for you and me," Scott pointed out. "If he was expecting Annie to lose…"

"He was hoping for everyone to be miserable," K said. "Jubilee … he wanted to see a fight with Noh and Warbird, really. Jubes was supposed to go down and then Noh would be _allowed _to face off to avenge her. You can guess how well that would have worked with the state he was in."

"And Azazel's little bet had Mojo cackling. He loved it, though that wasn't in the plans," Logan added. "He expected Kate to lose — and be too headstrong to call for help."

"So none of us were supposed to come home," Scott summed up.

"He somehow keeps underestimating everyone here," K said.

"Kept," Scott corrected her.

"Forgive me if I don't jump for joy until after I get confirmation that some other transdimensional slug doesn't take his spot."

"Good point," Scott said as he let out a sigh, though before he could say anything further, there was a knock at the door, and Annie poked her head in with a crying little James.

"Sorry," she said softly. "He skinned his knee…"

"I got it," K said as she turned to give Logan a quick kiss. "See you boys upstairs." She made her way over to scoop up the little guy — who quickly wrapped his arms around his mother's neck and snuggled in while the two women headed away from the door, which clicked shut heavily behind them.

"Anything else, Slim?" Logan had a look on his face that was just far too familiar — but one that Scott hadn't seen in years either.

Scott let out a breath. "Just ... we're going to do _everything _to fix this," he said. "The kids won't mind the change; they hate school anyway."

"No kidding," Logan agreed with a nod, in an almost distracted tone. "They've been wanting to get out of there."

Scott stopped and turned Logan's way. "Are you going to go after him?"

"I was thinkin' about it," Logan admitted. "Might know where he's headed. Vaguely."

"When you get a solid bead on him, let me know," Scott said.

But Logan shook his head. "It's not the kind of area you'd get a solid bead on. Have to go hound-dog it."

"Still, I can help. He's never been able to take on both of us," Scott pointed out.

"No, but you got enough going on getting the schools set up and dealing with that senator … "

Scott shook his head. "You're part of my team, Logan. And a threat on the kids is more important to me to address than anything else."

"Which is why I'm plannin' to go deal with that threat," Logan said. "If I'm wrong, you'll be here to stop him. You and the rest of the team."

"You're part of the team, Logan. I want to be there for the fight too," Scott insisted with his arms crossed.

"Yeah, maybe that's part of the problem."

"What are you talking about?"

"How many of these big nasty threats would you be dealing with if I'd stayed gone?"

"You've _got_ to be kidding me," Scott said, shaking his head.

"No, really. You'd probably be in Alaska with a dozen kids otherwise. Peaceful as can be."

Scott let out a breath. "I'd have come back to the team some other way," he said, waving his hand. "You're not leaving. You and K are part of this team."

"I'm not takin' her," Logan clarified.

Scott stared at Logan for a moment for that one, and then his entire expression shifted as he just got _mad_. "_Dammit_, Logan," he said. "Don't make my mistakes!"

Logan narrowed his eyes and let out a slow breath. "And how the hell is this like your mistakes?"

"You think there isn't a second when I see Cable I don't regret the family I should have had?" Scott asked. "You can't _leave_. It'll stick with you for the rest of your life."

"I thought I was past all this crap," Logan almost growled out.

"Yeah, I thought so too. It's been, what, almost a decade and we haven't split? That dustup with the bill doesn't count. What the hell, Logan?"

"I wish you'd quit bringin' that up," Logan growled out.

Scott jutted out his chin. "What? It really bothers you that much that the rest of us wanted you back?"

"It's a dumb move."

"It was, and I spent weeks trying to fix it after I made it," Scott said.

"Damn, you really know how to twist it. Sending us off was the right thing to do. All the way around," Logan argued.

"No," Scott shot back. "The right move would have been to stand by the team. The _whole _team. This school is a sanctuary. This team is _family_. If I can't stand by that…" He shook his head. "That's the whole reason for what we do."

"And it's a lot easier to do with the _right _people around," Logan said.

"Which is _why _I'm asking you to stay," Scott retorted.

Logan let out a mirthless little laugh. "You sure you didn't get a concussion or somethin'? You've always wanted me outta here from day one. Why are you getting contrary on me now?"

"If I don't keep you honest, who will?" Scott asked with his arms crossed.

"Won't need to worry about it if I can manage what I'm setting out to do," Logan countered. "You got plenty of other people to be concerned with that actually deserve it."

"You're setting out to get yourself killed," Scott said.

"Only if nothing else works."

"And if you find Creed and kill him, then what?" Scott challenged.

"I guess that depends on how long it takes me."

"And if it takes months? Years? You two have been at this since as long as I've known you. You're just going to drop out of your family's life?" Scott asked in disbelief.

"Better than letting him use them like bait."

"No, it's not!" Scott said, honestly angry as he glared down at Logan. "You can't just… turn your back on your family! Let the team help. You know Storm would love to fry Sabretooth, and like I said, he can't stand up to you and me together. We've _got _your back. Let us help!"

"On top of all the other stuff?" Logan asked, looking totally skeptical.

"Yes!" Scott said, agitated into throwing his hands up. "Yes! On top of all of it. That's what we _do_. That's what this family _does_."

"Yeah, but when one keeps dragging in more trash—"

"You really want to go down that line? We're not kicking Kurt out for bringing an actual demon into the house, and you've never kicked me out for getting the entire team kidnapped by Sinister—"

"Sinister was everyone's problem," Logan pointed out. "Even if you were his favorite."

"Sinister was _my _problem," Scott said. "You think I didn't think about it? Leaving the team to put some of the focus off of you guys? Especially when he already had your powers anyway?"

"Doesn't sound like you."

"Yeah? Then you haven't heard how I met Annie," Scott said. "I was in Alaska so the team didn't get dragged down by _my _mistakes — sound familiar?"

"Fine. I'll give you that," Logan said, putting both hands up at chest level. "I wasn't around. But that's one creep on you, Scott. I've already pulled down a whole freakin' army. And the Reavers. And Creed. And … any jackass after my hide for whatever bounty I'm carrying at any given time."

"That's just part of the job," Scott said. "Every single one of us has someone after us."

"Every single _individual_ here hasn't been the damn arguing point for freakin' legislation. _Successfully _at that."

"_Damn that bill_," Scott shouted at Logan. "Damn all of it. Nobody's coming after you without going through us first — and I'd like to see them try."

Logan frowned and met his gaze. "Tell me honestly, please. How much easier was it without the killers in the house?"

"You want to know the truth?" Scott shot back with a little heat that was only a little defused by the tone of the question. "It was hell. We spent every second trying to find a way to bring you back. The kids were upset. Christmas was a mess. None of us were sleeping well just trying to find a way to _fix it_."

"Was Steve really that bad for history?"

"It wasn't the history class I was concerned about, and you know it," Scott snapped back.

"A little more time and you'd have had it easier."

Scott shook his head. "How many times, Logan? Every time this comes up, you seem to think we'd have gotten over it, but every time — _every time _— I tell you that's just not how this works, and you _never listen to me_." He gestured at Logan with a glare. "You _never _listen to me," he repeated. "And we have the same fight every time because of it."

"You're wrong," Logan argued. "I listen a helluva lot more than you give me credit for. I just don't agree with you most of the time."

"Then listen to me on this: I'm not going to let you leave this team."

"Thought you weren't going to hand out orders."

"That was about choosing schools," Scott said with a wave. "This is about you not making a huge mistake and walking away from the best thing that's ever happened to you. K and those kids? You _can't _leave them."

"I know."

"Good." Scott crossed his arms. "So. The team will help deal with Sabretooth, and when you get a solid bead on him — or Rachel finds him on Cerebro — _we _will deal with him. In the meantime, I need you here."

"Yeah, I got that."

Scott frowned at Logan for a long moment. "So you'll stay," he said slowly. "Or at least take someone with you to find Creed."

Logan glanced up at him for just a moment. "I'll let Rachel know where I think he's headed."

"That's not good enough," Scott said.

"What else is new?"

"You have to give me something more solid than that," Scott said with a glare.

"What do you want me to tell you?"

"I want to _know _this team isn't going to lose you to your stupid vendetta against Sabretooth when we could help you," Scott said. "And I want to know you're not going to let your kids be without their father and your _wife _won't be left in the lurch! I don't _care _what Creed is up to as long as we can stop him from getting to the kids and the team. I don't care that you think it's personal. This isn't about _you _anymore."

"Never really was," Logan said as he got to his feet. "Don't worry about it."

"It's my _job _to worry about what happens on this team," Scott shot back. "And I hate to break it to you, but you made it my job to worry about your kids when James was born, so yeah, it is my job to worry about you and them and everything else that goes on around here."

"Anything else?"

"Yeah, actually," Scott said with a bit of heat. "You said Mojo was pissed because we're not fighting? I guess he fixed that little problem."

"I'm not tryin' to fight with you, Scott," Logan said, already walking toward the door.

"No, you're trying to leave, which is worse," Scott said.

"I'm not leaving right now — or anytime in the immediate future."

"You're not leaving this team period," Scott said. "I don't care if you and K take breaks or whatever it is you do when you disappear, but Logan? This is exactly where I want you to be right now."

"For the kids, of course. Got it."

"Did I _say _that?" Scott asked.

"Seemed implied."

Scott gestured at Logan in clear irritation. "Stop putting words in my mouth, Logan. If I meant I was asking you to stay because Chance adores you, or because Kurt would be devastated if you left, or because Natasha would kill me if you were gone more than five seconds — I'd have _said that_."

Logan rubbed a hand over his eyes. "I think I need a break."

"Chicken Hawk."

"I meant for a weekend, ya giant walkin', talkin' pain in my ass."

"You taking K and the kids?" Scott asked. "Or at least K?"

"Yes," Logan said, letting his shoulders drop.

"Fine." Scott nodded once. "Come back on Monday and we'll get right back down to work. Rachel might have more solid leads on Azazel or Sabretooth by then anyway."

_Dad! _Rachel projected suddenly, nearly overwhelming Scott's mind. _You're doing it again. _

_Doing what? _Scott projected back without taking his gaze off of Logan.

_You can't be subtle with him; you do that all the time. You're either subtle or overbearing, and he really does think he's dragging in nothing but trash. Seriously. _

Scott frowned. _That's what I'm _trying _to tell him, but you know how he is. _

_Yes. And when you go from perfectly reasonable to 'you will do this thing because I said so' _— _he shuts down on you if he doesn't flat out _fight _you. Every. Time. _

Scott ran a hand down his face. _How long have you been listening in? _

_Long enough to know that it's turning into a serious train wreck. _

_I tried being direct; he won't listen to me, _Scott explained. _He'll listen to an order. _

_I have taken the liberty of recording a part of your conversation. Let it go tonight and listen to yourself and _then _tell me if you think you sound like you're actually getting your point across. It sounds great in your head. Really. But execution … no. _

_If I let it go tonight, am I going to lose him? _Scott asked after a moment.

There was a long pause as Rachel thought it over. _You should be able to catch him before he takes off with K in the morning. _

_Should. _He let out a breath. _You know something, Rachel? This is the part I hate about being the leader. _

_I know. And it doesn't help that most of your time running this show was with a telepath giving you cheat sheets. That is not what this is. I need to know that when the other schools start up, you two won't implode a semester in. _

_Right. That's real likely considering how stubborn and _wrong _he is. _He pinched the bridge of his nose and turned to Logan. "I've got something I need to do. I'll see you at coffee in the morning."

Logan paused at the door, his hand on the knob. "Sure. Good luck."


	11. A Little Reality Check

**Chapter 11: "A Little Reality Check**

Billy had been perfectly content playing with Sammy and reading her stories — while Teddy and Harry hilarious acted them out together — when he was very suddenly aware of a shift in the future.

It wasn't anything that would absolutely destroy their world like a dimension where Weapon X took over (yet), but it was dangerous in other ways. Logan must have decided that he was going to leave his family, for some reason, because Billy saw him alone — and K packing up her family to leave as well.

Which couldn't be allowed to stand. He just didn't know what it was that he needed to do — or _could _do.

Teddy looked up when he saw Billy's expression change, and Harry paused as well. "Daddy sees something?" he asked.

"Yeah, bud," Teddy agreed.

"Something bad?" Sammy asked.

Teddy looked toward Billy, who nodded. "Yeah."

"Oh, so you gotta fix it," Harry surmised.

"I'll be right back," Billy promised. After all, once the kids caught on that something was going on, they'd just be waiting for him to disappear anyhow. He might as well pop over to the mansion and see what was going on for himself — and maybe work out what he was going to do about it. He didn't think telling Logan that what he was planning to do was a _bad idea _was going to hold any water if he couldn't prove it was world-ending.

"Oh, okay. So this is all going about as well usual," Bobby said, gesturing at Billy when he appeared outside the War Room. He was leaned against the wall with one foot kicked up and his arms crossed. "Our personal harbinger of doom is here."

"Hurtful," Billy said.

"Oh, so you're not here because Logan and Scott are at each other's throats _again_?" Bobby said, thumbing over his shoulder toward the room next to him. "Rachel's in there trying to solve the impossible."

"Uh… I guess I am," Billy said with a frown.

"They made it longer than usual this time," Bobby said with a tired sigh.

"Yeah… alright, here's the thing: the consequences of them being—"

"Them?" Bobby waved a hand. "Yeah, I know. Rachel's been keeping me informed. I told her I'd wait up when she tired herself out and got frustrated."

Billy ran a hand down his face and let out a sigh. _Rachel _— _I think I might have an idea if you're willing to let me borrow your dad, _he projected out to her.

_It's not dropping the two of them alone in a strange dimension until they work this out, is it? Because I already thought of that, _Rachel projected back in a tired tone. _We've been over the conversation _— _and I let him know what Logan was thinking through a lot of it._

_That could work, _Billy admitted, trying to look into the future to see if Logan was still planning on heading off. He was, but there was still a shot in the morning… _The problem here is if this doesn't work, I'm telling you right now: the future I see is a split family, and it's no good._

_Yeah, I know, _Rachel replied. _What are you thinking, anyway?_

_Little shock therapy, _Billy admitted. _I might know a dimension that could get our resident Cyclops to rethink a few things._

There was a long pause. _Alright._

Billy nodded to himself and then Bobby before he disappeared and reappeared in the War Room, where Rachel was sitting with Scott. For his part, Scott already looked like he was fairly mortified, though when Billy appeared, the expression just turned hard. "That bad?"

"You know, clearly, I'm doing something wrong if everyone thinks I'm just here for disasters."

"Come around more often," Rachel said with a little smirk as she squeezed his arm.

Billy smiled her way and then turned toward Scott. "So, I'm sure you've already got the rundown, but our favorite clawed wonders are about to hit the kind of family snag you just don't come back from—"

"Yeah, that's what I'm _trying _to talk him out of," Scott said with a clearly irritated and tired tone.

"Yeah, well." Billy let out a breath and then raised a glowing hand Scott's way. "This ... this is a perception issue. We're going to fix it, because Kate's right: you X-Men suck at communicating." With that, to Rachel's surprise, Scott seemed to disappear, though from Scott's point of view, he hadn't actually gone anywhere.

"I'm going to bend the rules and do a little time traveling in a different dimension, so you _can't change anything_," Billy said to the space that occupied Scott but that was getting nothing — not even psychic residue — from Rachel's perspective. "No one else but me can be aware of your existence where we're going, or it will cause _so _many ripples and problems down the line. You won't even be picked up on any machines."

"That's a lot of rule-bending," Scott said with a frown as he looked down at himself and then to Rachel — who clearly couldn't see him anymore.

"It's a decades-long problem," Billy pointed out.

"You can reverse it, right?" Rachel said, dubiously staring at the spot where Scott had been.

"Oh yeah," Billy promised. "We'll be back in plenty of time."

Rachel still looked a little distrustful of the idea but nodded all the same. _Good luck_, she projected out to Billy before he and Scott disappeared.

* * *

When the two of them reappeared, they were in the dimension Billy had created accidentally when he became the Demiurge — several years in the past. In this dimension, the infamous tracking bill had only recently been passed — and, Billy knew, Logan and K had only just been caught by Weapon X. More importantly for Billy's plans, it meant that Weapon X had already been to the mansion trying to find the ferals.

Scott unconsciously let out a noise of almost pain when he saw where Billy had taken him: right to the heart of the Weapon X facility where Logan and K were being held. Scott and Billy were just feet away from the two Howletts — who were restrained in a manner Scott was intimately familiar with during his time with Sinister. Neither of them could move a muscle. And the facility had managed to set up both of the ferals up with some device that kept either of them from speaking — certainly to avoid any pesky unification or smart alecky responses.

Billy grabbed Scott's arm to keep him back and shook his head. "This is the dimension I told you about. It's fixed in the present time, and you can't change anything here, so don't try."

"Why are we here, Wiccan?" Scott asked with a deeply settled frown, clearly agitated on seeing Logan and K in that state.

"Let me explain," Billy said softly. "This… this is right after Weapon X caught up to them. In this universe, the bill passed, and Weapon X came to the mansion looking for them, but they weren't there, obviously."

Scott frowned at the reminder of what had happened five years ago but nodded all the same.

"Weapon X ransacked the mansion anyway looking for them — and they wore body cams, so they've got video evidence of the whole thing," Billy explained, gesturing to where the Weapon X creeps were clearly setting up to show Logan and K just what had gone down.

On the screen, Weapon X pulled up to the mansion. It was an overwhelming force — one that it was clear to see would be enough to handle the mansion residents on sheer numbers alone. A few different points of view showed the dampening field setup that meant none of the mansion residents could use their powers — or easily escape. They could only watch as that universe's Scott stepped into the entryway as the Weapon X soldiers pushed their way inside. In the background, several staff members were ushering students out, and for the moment at least, the Weapon X soldiers weren't actively going after them.

"They're not here — you _know _they're not here," Scott was saying on the screen, and even though Billy knew what was coming, he felt the lump in his throat as K let out a little noise and started to try to shake her head in spite of the restraints. Logan seemed to be just holding his breath.

"This is a school; I don't care what that bill says. You can't—"

_Bang_.

The sound was enough to get Billy to jump even though he knew what was coming, and Scott — the living, breathing one — was totally still as the Scott on the screen fell backwards, dead immediately from a shot to the head as the soldiers swept past his crumpled and still form. Students on the screen were screaming, and a few X-Men charged the soldiers, but there were enough of them that they powered right through in their search — of course coming up with nothing in the end, since the Howletts really _weren't _there.

K was nearly hyperventilating as she tried not to watch the whole breakdown on-screen, and Logan was positively frozen — all the color gone from his face as the man running the show was careful to inform him that not one bit of this would have been possible without the two of them and the mistakes they'd made over the years, focusing of course on all the time Logan had spent at Xavier's.

There was nothing to it after that. Neither of the little ferals fought back in the least as the men working around them got down to business. They were both obviously accepting all of it at face value.

"Billy," Scott started to say in a strangled tone, and Billy broke out of his horrified trance to finally get them out of there, the two of them reappearing out in the woods somewhere.

"I'm sorry," Billy said quickly. "It was hard hearing about it, let alone…" He swallowed and shook his head. "I just had to show you ... that's what he'd do if you died."

Scott was pale and quiet, clearly still trying to process the whole scene, as Billy led the way deeper into the woods. It was a long enough walk that Scott was starting to get a better handle on the initial shock, though when he heard a familiar laugh, he froze again.

"We're still in that other dimension," Billy explained, "but in the present day. So the twins are seven; it's been a little over a year and a half since I was here." As he spoke, they came upon a clearing where Logan and K were with their kids in that dimension — Elin and James, as well as both of the Summers twins. And it looked like Chance had just caught a fish under Logan's tutelage.

Chance couldn't stop the grin in the moment as Logan helped him get the fish off his hook, though the smile didn't last as long as Scott was seeing from his own little boy. This Chance grinned only until he realized he was doing it and then nodded once when Logan looked his way. "How much do you think it weighs?" Chance asked.

"Couple pounds anyhow," Logan told him with a little smirk. "Pretty good size, kiddo."

Chance tried hard not to grin but couldn't quite manage it as he stood up a little taller. "Can we eat it?" he asked.

"Sure," Logan agreed. "Take it up to show your sister — see how she's doin'."

Chance nodded as he wrapped up his fish and rushed off to find Charlie as she was picking berries from one of the blueberry bushes in the woods, and the two little Summers kids put their heads together over their respective food finds.

With the kids doing their own thing, it would have been easy to miss the expression on Logan's face when they weren't near the adults. But Billy managed to catch it, by sheer luck. Logan looked every bit as tortured then as he had in the facility in the moment he saw Scott die, but when the kids turned back toward him, he was very quick to cover it.

"Charlie says it looks good!" Chance reported as he and his sister headed back, hand in hand.

"Then it must be," Logan agreed before he waved them over to show them how to prep the fish. The only thing that was notable was the simple fact that he was using a knife, not his claws — he hadn't used those in this dimension at all since getting free.

Billy was quiet as they watched the scene in front of them before, finally, he clued Scott in. "When it was all said and done, Logan and K adopted them," he said. "It took over a year before Charlie was alright with it, and Chance took a little longer, but…" He gestured at the scene. "They've been taking care of the twins ever since they came back."

Scott was silent as he watched the whole thing, clearly still processing, and Billy just sighed as he leaned against the nearest tree and simply waited, watching with a small smile as Elin and James arrived with K to complete the family dinner.

Finally, Scott looked toward Billy. "Is that all…?" he asked very quietly.

"Yeah, I thought about jumping ahead another ten years, but I think I've made my point," Billy replied just as quietly. A moment later, the two of them appeared in the kitchen of the mansion — since Billy knew that's where Scott was planning to catch Logan before he tried to run off anyway — and he waved his hand to make them both detectable and visible again.

Almost automatically, Scott looked toward the clock, letting out a breath when he saw that he still had time before Logan would be down.

"You alright?" Billy asked as Scott sat down in the nearest chair.

"Fine," Scott said in a gruff tone.

"I really am sorry. I hadn't seen it either," Billy explained. "I… I just wanted to prove once and for all you two don't hate each other, not… I'm really sorry about that."

Scott waved Billy off, running a hand over his face before he went to the coffee maker. "It's fine," he said in that same tone.

Billy watched Scott for a long moment before he looked past Scott and then smiled when he saw the future had changed again. "Well, have a good chat. You'll work it out — believe me on this."

* * *

It wasn't too long before Logan and K came down, and while Logan herded the little ones over to do their morning routine — which involved playing and snuggling for a while before anything else was allowed — K slipped over by Scott and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and a little hug on her way to the coffee pot.

"Morning," she half sang out. "You look a little tired."

"It was a long night," he told her as he returned the hug with a little squeeze.

That was enough to take her off-guard, though she quickly recovered, readjusting her hug to nearly snuggle in. "I'm really sorry to hear that. Are you going to have coffee with us or are you bringing tea up?"

It took Scott a second to realize where the lines were crossed, and he shook his head. "No, no. Annie's alright. Billy came by last night with an issue that needed addressing, that's all."

"Oh," she said, frowning a little at that. "Then you _need _the coffee."

"This is number three," he admitted as he filled up a mug. "Don't worry; Billy's back home with his husband and kids now and seems to think things are rightway up again," he said, just because he knew K worried about that kid.

"Good," she said with a nod. "I have full faith in the two of you."

He smirked her way before he brought the cup of coffee to the table where Logan was already sitting with his own mug and the newspaper. He took a deep breath and cleared his throat. "I owe you an apology, Logan," he said.

Logan glanced up, then frowned deeply at him. "You okay?"

"Not entirely, but I'll be fine," Scott said, waving it off.

"Something go wrong after I left?" Logan asked, putting the paper down, though K simply picked it up and made sure to lose his place for him.

"Billy had a small problem he brought to my attention, but that's — that's not the point," Scott said, trying to get back on track on what he'd been thinking over for the past couple of hours waiting for the two of them to get down to the kitchen. He let out a long breath. "I lost my temper yesterday."

"Forget it," Logan said, shaking his head — and then frowning when he saw his paper was gone. "Doesn't matter anyhow."

"It does," Scott said, shaking his head. He scrubbed a hand over his face before he tried again. "Instead of asking you to stay, I lost my temper… That wasn't what I was going for," he tried to explain. He glanced toward K, who was feigning total deafness for his sake, and then let out a breath from his cheeks. "Look," he said at last. "I guess ... this is just what happens in families. Sometimes we don't get along — but that doesn't mean I want you _gone_."

There was a long pause before Logan decided he wasn't trying to pull something. "O-kay."

Scott leaned back and seemed to chew over his next words. "I didn't make myself clear before," he said in a measured tone. "I don't want you gone. I don't think things would be easier without you. And despite appearances and what I _know _you think, I don't hate you." He paused. "You're a pain, don't get me wrong. And you're trying to kill me with some of the crap you pull. But I _still want you on the team_," he said, sure to emphasize that last point.

"Alright," Logan said, still looking at Scott strangely. "Got it. You sure you're okay?"

But at that, Scott shook his head and seemed exasperated. "I was _fine _before I thought I was going to lose you guys," he said, gesturing between Logan and K. "I was _fine _— and then I spent an entire night thinking a good friend was about to walk out on me!" he added, this time pointing an accusing finger Logan's way so there could be no mistake who he was talking about.

"That's _not _going to happen," K said suddenly.

"Have you talked to him lately?" Scott asked, a little worked up now.

"Not much to talk about, but I'm getting a pretty good idea on what happened," K told him. "And it's not. Going. To happen."

Scott relaxed the slightest bit, but he was still glaring Logan's way. "You've stood by me through a whole lot of crap when you had every reason not to," he said. "I'm just asking you — _please _— to stay even when I know your girls are at different schools, and Sabretooth's back, and the political reality sucks…. I know you have every reason to leave, but I'm asking you not to."

Logan silently nodded his head as K raised an eyebrow at both of them. "Yeah. That … he's not _stupid enough _to do something that would mean I'd have to go hunt him down and _kill him._"

"That's what I'm trying to stop," Scott pointed out, finally turning her way. "The professor always said this team was family — and you two are part of that."

She reached over to take Logan's hand. "It never worked for you before to play by his stupid rules. Quit thinking like a moron — which is exactly what Creed wants." He shook his head with a little smirk before she continued. "Even if you don't want help, you can't play by _his _rules. Try mine."

"What?" Scott turned her way suddenly.

She looked up at him, bright eyed — which always only meant trouble. "Hey. He wants a fight. Both of them do. But their set of rules is stupid."

"I already offered to come," Scott nearly grumbled.

"I know; I'm sure you did," K said, nodding. "And I'm not saying that's a bad idea; it's a damn good one, honestly. But … why not give it right back to him? Why the hell has he always waited for Creed to come to him — or only go after him once Victor has gotten him riled and ready to throw everything away? Turn it around on him. Quit playing defense."

"See, that's what I _said_," Scott said, gesturing to K with his gaze toward Logan.

"Is that how you said it?" K asked.

Scott gave her a dry look. "I said we can get Rachel on Cerebro and run down leads and _find _the guy."

"Yes, I heard that part," K said, nodding. "But he wants you to go looking for him now. Ignore him. Find out where he hides and torch the place. He's a maniac, but he's spoiled, and he keeps trophies. Where the hell does he keep them?" She picked up her mug to take a long drink. "Find that spot — threaten _his_ home for a change. See how he likes it."

Scott leaned back and crossed his arms. "Alright."

"This is why you don't piss off mother bears," Logan said, shaking his head.

"No kidding," Scott said, then put down his mug and shook his head. "Alright. If you can find his place, you're authorized to do whatever you want. Just so long as you keep me in the loop."

"Oh, I can find it," K said with a smirk. "You just haven't been looking, have you?"

"We were looking for _him_, not his hideout," Scott said.

"Yes," K said, "But did it ever occur to you to check Weapon X's payroll? They hired him after all. There will be a record of contact — even if it's a phone number, we should be able to run it down."

Scott blinked at her for a moment before he almost laughed in disbelief. "If you can find that…" He shook his head and then smirked. "Alright. Between the two of you, I have no doubt you'll find him."

K got up and headed past Scott on her way for more coffee, though she was sure to stop and give him another kiss on the top of his head this time before she ruffled his hair. "If you've been up all night, you should probably still bring sweet tea up, mister."

Scott pushed his hair back down. "Yeah, you're not wrong there," he said. He looked and sounded honestly tired now that he wasn't as worked up and worried that Logan was about to leave. "You'll call me when you find him, right? When you get back from… where, exactly?"

"I'm not going hunting for him," Logan said with a sigh. "Not right now. She's right. He wants us looking. We're just going to head up to her place."

Scott tried not to relax too substantially as he nodded. "Alright." He got up to head to the counter to find a glass for some sweet tea. "Alright," he said again. "Do you need someone to watch the kids?"

"No," Logan replied as he rested his chin in his hand. "They need a break too. Little fishing might do them good."

Scott stopped for a long moment, frozen as he thought of what Billy had shown him, before he swallowed and nodded. "That doesn't sound half bad," he said in a more subdued tone.

"You're welcome to the place next time," Logan told him. "Secluded enough to keep it private."

"Thanks for the offer. I was actually thinking of taking the family up to Alaska once things quiet down," Scott said. "You know… eventually."

"Better not wait; might not ever happen," Logan replied, finally getting into his paper now that he'd stolen it back from K.

"Yeah, we'll see," Scott said as he refilled his mug of coffee and then grabbed the glass of sweet tea. "See you Monday. I have one more apology to make," he said with a self-deprecating little smirk.

"Sure you're not a Skrull?" Logan teased without looking up.

"Pretty sure you'd know if I was," Scott shot back.

"Not as worn down as I am," Logan countered. "I think I still got blood up my nose."

Scott shot him a dry look. "If you're so convinced I can't get along without being a Skrull, I'm not the one with the problem here."

"I'm teasing, Scott. Relax a little."

"With no sleep and four cups of coffee?" Scott raised an eyebrow.

"Right. My bad."

Scott shook his head. "Good night," he said on his way out the door.


	12. Sucker Punch

**Chapter 12: "Sucker Punch"**

The rest of the morning went on spectacularly. Bobby had missed Scott by ten minutes and was enjoying the spoils of war as it were as K made up a massive breakfast for anyone who had gotten up early enough to enjoy it before the two ferals grabbed the little ones and headed out for the weekend.

He was just getting into his second cup of coffee, watching the news and chewing on a piece of toast, when Hank made his way upstairs, looking a little ruffled.

"If I could have a word, Robert," Hank said in a perfectly businesslike tone that did not at all match his usual attitude.

Bobby swallowed one hot mouthful in surprise and then nodded. "Yeah, uh, what's up?" he asked as he got to his feet. He took a better assessment of Hank, then cleared his throat. "I mean … certainly, Henry."

Hank tipped his head toward the hall, and the two of them headed out to go down to Scott's empty office. "Just what exactly were you thinking?"

Bobby held out both hands in front of himself with his fingers spread wide. "You're going to have to be more specific, because all I've thought so far today is that K's a great cook when she's starving."

"Which I'm sure is impressive," Hank said. "But I admit I'm not sure where to start. I didn't say anything when you and Rachel started dating, or even when you moved in together, but honestly, _Robert_. Did you think that I would miss her condition? How do you expect Scott to handle this? Or the fact that you two went off galavanting across the stars to take out Mojo? We have no way of knowing if the Phoenix might cause trouble for her down the road …" His voice didn't rise, but he sounded harsher and harsher, and by the time he got to the Phoenix, there was a definite growl in his tone.

Bobby swallowed once and then shook his head. "You know… actually, that's probably a good point. We should look into the Phoenix."

"Of course I know," Hank said, sounding insulted. "The first tip off is to catch the little smirk that Logan and K have whenever this happens, then wait to catch up on the scent."

"Yeah, no, I figured you guys knew, actually," Bobby said. "Rachel wanted to wait until things were a little quieter before we told Scott, honestly, all things considered."

"And when, pray tell, would that ever be?" Hank challenged. "When the child is graduating high school?"

"Yes?" Bobby offered with half a smile.

Hank let out a huff. "You're about to tell one of our oldest and dearest friends that he's a grandfather — to your child. I hope you have everything in order."

"Actually, we were hoping to have pictures first ... you know… take some of the focus off of me and Rachel and onto the kid..."

"So you were blatantly hoping to misdirect his attention?" Hank asked, sounding thunderstruck. "That will not work for long."

"Yeah, well, it's not like we were planning this," Bobby defended.

"Whatever you do, do _not _say that to Scott," Hank pointed out.

"Scott will be _fine_," Bobby said, waving his hand. "We'll have cute baby pictures, and when he does the math, he'll get over it."

Hank stared at him openly. "How in heaven's name will that _help matters?_"

Bobby leaned forward toward Hank with a crooked grin. "You remember two summers back when Rachel and I were in Hawaii for a month?"

"Yes, and Scott had a small cardiac event, of course."

"Which is _why _we didn't tell him we stayed longer because we decided to extend the honeymoon," Bobby pointed out.

Hank paused for just a moment, clearly torn between hitting him and hugging him before very suddenly he pulled him into a hug with a laugh and a quiet 'congratulations', though when he released him, he hit him hard enough to make him take a few steps back.

"Gee, thanks, Hank," Bobby said, rubbing his shoulder.

"You're very welcome," Hank said, still shaking his head. "Don't expect Storm to hold back as much as I did. Or Kurt. Or … anyone else, for that matter."

"Oh come on," Bobby said. "We did everything in the right order. Scott just freaked out, so we didn't want to hit him with this…"

"Without _telling anyone_," Hank said, nearly shouting out his whisper, before he glanced over both shoulders. "You need to clear the air. This is ridiculous, Bobby."

"Really, we were going to tell you — and Scott and everyone..."

"Let me guess: 'when everything calmed down'."

"Well yeah," Bobby said defensively. "I don't know if you've noticed, but it's been kind of crazy."

"Tell your bride to come down to the lab to get your pictures," Hank said with a glare. "You need to man up, Robert."

"Hey." Bobby leveled one finger Hank's way. "Let's get one thing straight. _I _am not holding anything up."

"You're not progressing it either," Hank replied, his lip curled back slightly.

Bobby shook his head. "Alright. Fine. But Rachel's still asleep after dealing with the near-cataclysm of last night. Our resident starry-eyed Horseman of the Apocalypse came by and everything. You missed it."

"What was the cataclysm that was, I assume, narrowly avoided?"

"Oh, the usual. Logan and Scott being _them_," Bobby said, waving one hand.

"I'm at a loss as to how that's any different than any given day."

"Well, the way Rachel tells it, Logan was ready to leave, so ... crisis avoided, the team isn't splitting, my wife exhausted herself talking her dad through the whole thing, and I'm not waking her with a ten foot pole after the night she had." Bobby shrugged. "I'll send her down this afternoon, alright?"

"Fair enough," Hank said, leading the way out of the office.

Bobby followed Hank a few paces before he paused. "When did Logan and K catch it?" he asked.

"If history is any indicator, nearly immediately," Hank replied. "They've been just waiting to hear you say something for nearly three months."

Bobby grinned ruefully. "Alright. That's longer than I realized. She still doesn't look any different." He paused again. "Hey, wait, is that long enough to know what we're having?"

"No," Hank said, shaking his head. "But you should be able to easily hear the heartbeat, and the pictures should be worthwhile."

"I'll be there," Bobby promised.

* * *

Annie and Scott met up with Rachel and Bobby on Sunday for dinner, and Annie was absolutely thrilled with the idea of an evening out, especially since pretty much the entire week had been one long and unbroken series of stressful events.

Scott, on the other hand, was half watching Bobby the entire time. He and Rachel had _never _asked them to double date, so he was sure this was some kind of way of announcing an engagement or something.

When they met up with Bobby and Rachel, Scott had to shake his head, since, sure enough, there was a sparkling ring on her hand.

They headed in to the new place that Storm had found, and Annie was enjoying the small talk as Scott tried to ignore the situation. Until he realized as Rachel rested her hand on the table that it wasn't just an engagement ring.

"When did — _when _did this happen?" he asked, not quite able to keep his voice from rising as he gestured toward Rachel's hand and Annie leaned over to follow his gaze with a little gasp of understanding.

"About a year and a half ago," Rachel replied, straight faced and not dropping her gaze from his.

"A year and a—" He cut himself off before he whirled on Bobby. "When were you planning on _telling me_ that you _married my daughter_?"

Bobby held one hand up and tried to keep things calm. "We wanted to wait until things calmed down, but it never happened. It got away from us, and considering everything that's happened in the past few days or so, we realized how far out it was."

"You didn't invite us?" Annie asked, much quieter than Scott was.

"It was very spur of the moment," Rachel said.

"We'd have dropped everything to be there," Annie pointed out.

"At the time, I am reasonably sure it would not have been an easy situation," Rachel replied.

Scott stared between the two of them, realizing that the fact that they'd gone out to a restaurant was the only thing keeping him from hitting Bobby or raising his voice more. He rubbed the spot over his nose between his eyebrows. "You still should have told me," he said at last.

"We didn't mean to let it go this long," Bobby said.

"You'd better not have," Scott grumbled his way.

"When we came back, it was just a few weeks before that last big round of babies was born, so everybody had their hands full," Rachel explained calmly. "And then there was the MRD the next month and everything with the Leslie Initiative and the Senate hearings — and as soon as that calmed down, it was setting up the new schools and everything that came with it."

"Still," Annie said. "In the middle of all of that, we would have _loved _some good news like that."

Rachel let out a breath as she turned Annie's way. "Like we said, we didn't mean to let it go this long." She tipped her head toward Scott as he had moved on from looking angry to looking simply disappointed, and she was quick to stop that ball before it could get rolling too far. _We weren't actively trying to keep you out of this, _she told him. _It really did just get away from us._

_You said that, _he projected back to her, sounding tired, though he didn't project what she could hear in his mind anyway, that he was hurt, and that he was sure the truth of the matter was she didn't trust him to be there for her.

_Dad, _she projected to him gently. _If I could do it again, I'd ask you to walk me down the aisle. It really was a spur of the moment thing. _

Scott let out a long sigh before finally, _finally_, he nodded once. "Congratulations, both of you," he said.

"I wish you'd told us sooner; we could have at _least _celebrated an anniversary!" Annie said, faster to recover than Scott had been as she beamed at the two of them.

"Well, we can still throw a party," Rachel said slowly, a grin starting at the corner of her mouth as she reached into her purse to pull out the pictures that she and Bobby had Hank take.

Annie pulled the pictures toward herself before she let out a delighted gasp and covered her mouth, tears immediately springing to her eyes before she abandoned any pretense of formality and rushed around the table to throw her arms around first Rachel and then Bobby.

Scott, meanwhile, was just staring down at the perfectly captured profile images of a tiny little baby, clearly wrestling with his reaction as a smile kept tugging at his expression but he also kept looking up at Bobby in almost an accusation.

"When are you due?" Annie asked with a wide grin as she sat back down in her seat.

"Early June, according to Hank," Rachel said.

"That's so wonderful!" Annie declared, still beaming. "They'll be spoiled rotten, of course."

"Of course," Bobby agreed, shaking his head to himself at Annie's reaction — especially next to Scott's still-processing one.

"You picked a good time to stop dying your hair," Rachel teased Scott in an attempt to get him out of it.

Scott gave her a dry look for that one and then shook his head, pushing the pictures back toward her. "Congratulations," he said in the same kind of voice he'd been using just two days ago to talk to Billy after their trip across dimensions.

Annie put a hand on his arm and took over the conversation for him, asking about the intimate little elopement in Hawaii on the beach as well as their plans for when the baby came along — which were made easier by the fact that it would be summer break at the school, so things would be quieter around the mansion (theoretically) anyway.

Somehow, Scott made it through the entire dinner civilly, and if he was honest, he actually was starting to wrap his head around at least the idea of the baby on the way. He couldn't _quite _get his head around it being Rachel's — and he _definitely _couldn't wrap his head around Bobby being involved in any way with him becoming a grandfather. But the concept itself of being a grandfather ... sure. He could get his head around that. He didn't feel like he was old enough for it or like he'd been a _father _long enough for it ... but sure. He could wrap his head around it, sort of.

_Did we, ah, break Scott? _Bobby projected to Rachel halfway through dessert.

_To be fair, he was already half broken after dealing with everything already, _Rachel replied.

_Pretty sure that's why we _weren't _telling him, _Bobby said, shaking his head lightly.

_Yeah, but Hank was right. It was just going to be worse the longer we waited._

_Yeah… But we broke him. _Bobby smirked her way. _This is a whole new look on him. _

She couldn't help but smirk as she shook her head. _He'll bounce back. _

Bobby grinned her way for that and shrugged, clearly not believing anything about the situation, though he grinned even wider when the dinner was over and Annie hugged both him and Rachel all over again as they stood up from the table.

But the tone of things changed when they hit the parking lot. They didn't even get to the cars when Scott suddenly turned to Bobby and just _flattened _him with a solid punch. It didn't look like _anyone _had seen it coming, and when Bobby hit the ground, Scott shook out his hand, let out a little noise of annoyance, and then _smirked _before he climbed into his car.

Bobby was still rubbing his jaw on the ground as he watched the car drive off. "You couldn't give me a little warning?" he asked Rachel.

"There _was _no warning," Rachel said, shaking her head as she helped him to his feet. "If it makes you feel any better? He's bouncing back," she added with a little smirk.

"No. No it does not," Bobby said with a little laugh as he got to his feet.

* * *

Scott was going over admissions — applications from dozens of kids well over what their limit was in Westchester — and for the first time in the history of the school, he was forced to reroute most of them, though at least he had a few solid options.

He was ignoring the email that Mac had sent asking when he'd be free to come and check out their new school when the sound of little feet barrelling down the hallway was plainly apparent, and half a second later, James let himself in, grinning and giggling with a jar clutched to his chest. He didn't knock or even say hello before he ran over to Scott and nearly threw himself at him for a hug. "Present time," James said, shoving the jar in his face.

Scott couldn't help but grin at the little boy as he took the jar and then pulled James into a hug. "Aww, you shouldn't have," he teased.

"Uh- _huh_," James insisted. "Good stuff." He was nodding confidently at that.

"Yeah?" Scott picked up the jar of jam and raised an eyebrow at it. "Your mom make this?"

He was still smiling as he nodded his head. "Thimbleberries!"

"Thimbleberries, huh?" Scott repeated with a grin.

"Yep. They're the best."

Scott nodded seriously. "Yeah, I had 'em when I was your age too," he said, booping him on the nose.

"Mom said you might like 'em."

"Well she probably knows they grow in Alaska," Scott said. "She's pretty smart, just like you."

James giggled and snuggled up, melting halfway into him and clearly perfectly content to stay right there.

"Need me to get him out of your hair?" Logan asked from the open door. "Look a little busy."

"Nah, I could use the break," Scott said, shaking his head.

"No rest for the wicked then?" Logan replied as he took a seat across the desk from Scott and the still-snuggled-in James.

"We _were _gone for a few days with Mojo — and there's still a lot to catch up on," Scott said. He let out a breath. "And I really didn't get anything done over the weekend either, honestly." He ruffled James' hair, and James reached up to return the favor as Scott reached past him to his desk drawer and pulled out the I-Spy toy for James to play with and search through the clear rice for the list of items to find.

"You look like you need a beer," Logan said.

"Probably," Scott said distractedly. "You probably already know what Rachel and Bobby pulled us aside to tell us on Sunday."

"They're finally telling people then?" Logan asked. "'Bout damn time."

"Yeah, three months in and they took us out to dinner with Rachel's purse full of pictures," Scott said, shaking his head.

"So when's the funeral?"

"I already decked him in the parking lot," Scott admitted with a smirk.

Logan simply started laughing at that. "Oh yeah. I'm taking you out for a drink. You need it after a weekend like that."

"Yeah no kidding," Scott said, shaking his head again as he readjusted James to his other knee so he could work around the little guy. "Bobby's just lucky they're already married — did you know _that_?"

"I knew they were awful comfortable, but no. I didn't know they did that. How long? And if you say two months, I'm gonna go hit him for you."

"A year and a half," Scott said, not quite able to hide the note of irritation.

Logan's good cheer fell away in an instant. "_What._"

"I'd have hit him harder, but we were at Storm's favorite restaurant, and she asked us not to get banned."

"Well you're not there now," Logan said. "How … why the hell'd they wait to tell anyone?"

"They _said _it was because the past year and a half has just been nonstop busy," Scott said. "Which… considering things, is half true."

"Horseshit."

"Yeah, don't... I'm trying not to kill the father of my grandson or granddaughter right now, Logan," Scott said, then shook his head as he seemed to realize what he'd said. "That's going to take some getting used to."

"Well. Congratulations," Logan replied, leaning back a little bit in his chair. "Usually someone ticks me off that bad, it's over before I can even consider how to handle it. You did good."

Scott smirked at that. "Why do you think I'm here instead of in the main areas?"

"Want me to bring you a beer so you're not tempted on your way out the door?" Logan teased.

"I think I can make it five minutes."

"Whenever you're ready," Logan said, both arms out. "Little guy wanted to give a jar to Kurt too."

Scott peered around at James. "You find everything?" he asked with a crooked grin. "We can save your place next time you play."

"Okay," James said, already sliding off of Scott's knee to move on to other things, though he stopped at the door and let out a dramatic sigh as he looked back at Scott. "Come _on._"

Scott smirked as he put a marker in the little stack of applications. "Didn't mean to hold you up."

When Scott got up to James, the little boy took his hand and started pulling. "Gotta get the Elf," he insisted.

Scott nodded. "Yeah, that's what your dad said. I think he's grabbing some lunch with Kate."

The little group headed to the kitchen, with James pulling on Scott the whole way, insisting he go faster as Scott was sure to drag his feet just to tease him. Though that all changed when Logan whispered out a little 'oh no,' and a moment later, they could hear Annie positively laughing, clearly delighted.

"What's going on in here?" Scott asked with a grin as they rounded the corner.

"New nickname," Logan told him. "You'll hear about it in a sec."

Scott smirked and shook his head but allowed James to pull him into the kitchen, where Annie was wiping tears from her eyes — and Kate was laughing as well, though Kurt was just lightly chuckling.

"Come on, Kurt, you know you like it too," K teased.

"It's a good nickname," he admitted with a little smile, but with his tail twitching irritably behind him.

"So grumpy," K said, shaking her head as James rushed over to her and she crouched down to hand him his next 'present' for Kurt.

"I just didn't expect Bobby of all people to be a Summers," Kurt said with a small smirk as James marched up to him with his hands behind his back, trying to hide the jar. "What are you hiding, little one?" he teased.

"Nuthin'," James replied with a grin that was all kinds of trouble. Kurt picked him up and set him on the counter, only for James to show the jar finally — and very pointedly push it to Kate instead.

Kate laughed out loud as she scooped up the jar. "Oooh, I love it! Thank you!" she beamed, scooping James up to kiss his cheek.

"You are just like your father," Kurt said, shaking his head and chuckling.

He giggled and snuggled up to her, grinning at Kurt the whole time.

"Did you hear your mom's new nickname for Annie?" Kate asked, grinning over James' head at Scott as Annie started giggling all over again.

"Yep!" James said, nodding his head. "And Grannie Annie likes it too."

"Grannie Annie?" Scott repeated as Annie beamed at him.

"I love it," she said, still grinning.

"It fits her well enough," K defended as Annie went over to Kate and James and stole him for a hug and a kiss.

"She'll insist on being called that," Scott pointed out with a smirk.

"Oh, you're just mad that your name doesn't work as well for that kind of thing," Annie said, waving her hand his way.

"Well," K said, tipping her head. "Papa … might work. Papa Scott?"

"Oh, I like that," Annie laughed, and Scott shrugged lightly.

"Hey. It's worlds better'n Gramp-neto," Logan chuckled.

"We'll just see what the little one calls me," Scott said diplomatically. "Rachel said the Drakes just want to be 'Grandpa and Grandma'."

Logan smirked. "Good idea," he said, but it was clear the wheels were already turning on how quickly he could get Rachel's little one to call people what _he_ wanted.

"Where are they, anyway?" Kurt asked in a perfectly even tone that had Scott smirking.

"Oh, they're in Boston right now," Annie said.

"They'll be back tomorrow," Scott told Kurt.

"And where are you going?" Annie asked Scott as she continued to play with James, still grinning.

"I owe him a beer," Logan explained. "Or three. We'll see where it goes."

"Try to bring him back in the same shape he was in before," Annie teased.

"I'll try to bring him back a little more _relaxed_."

Annie laughed at that and waved them both off. "Have fun. Heaven knows you both need the time."

"Do you have room for a third?" Kurt asked.

"Always," Logan called back. "Like you gotta ask, though, Elf."

Kurt chuckled as he teleported over to catch up with the other two men. "Well, with the new grandfather in tow, I thought it might be your version of a congratulatory cigar," he teased.

"Nope, just a drink," Logan said. "We'll save the cigars until she gets here."


	13. Yep, Still a Reflex

**Chapter 13: "Yep, Still a Reflex"**

Noh and Forge, meanwhile, had been spending their time since the Mojovision incident working hard on the security for not only the mansion but also the LA location, spending the entire weekend going over blueprints for Chicago as well. The security measures were already top-notch, but they wanted to give it a few more once-overs, all things considered.

"Whatcha doing?" Celeste asked as she climbed up onto the table to join the two men in looking over the blueprints.

"We're just looking for ways to make the school safer," Noh explained to his daughter as Melody and Amadi poked their heads around the corner next, grinning and giggling together.

Since Amadi couldn't climb the way the two half-Kree girls could do, she pulled on Forge's sleeve to get his attention until he scooped her up and then gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Blueprints!" she grinned.

"That's right," Forge said with a grin. "These are blueprints for the school."

"Which one? _Our _school?" Melody asked.

"The one we live in right now is this one," Noh explained, pointing to a set of blueprints that the girls all giggled over. "And this one," he said, indicating another set, "is for the one on the beach where we'll be living soon."

"Oh-h-h," she said in a long, drawn-out way, nodding seriously with her little features scrunched up just like she'd seen on the men earlier.

Noh laughed and picked up his little girl to rub noses with her. "We just want to make sure you girls have the best home ever," he explained.

Amadi, however was giving her father a run for his money — pointing to one part of the drawings after another and asking "What's that?" time and time again. And once in a while, she would shake her head with a "no no" before another "what's _that_?"

That was how Storm found them, and she stopped to watch the show with her arms crossed and a smile on as Amadi continued to ask about everything on the pages and Forge gave her the names of everything as they were written — no shortened versions.

"Hi, Storm!" Celeste called out, waving happily when she saw the tall X-Man in the doorway.

"Hello, Celeste," she said, returning the wave. "Don't let me interrupt."

"We're doing blueprints!" Amadi called out to her mother happily.

"I see that," Storm said as she made her way over and rested her chin on Forge's shoulder. "Are you helping?"

"No!" Melody sang out with a giggle.

"No?" Storm repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"No!" Melody sang again. "We're being bovvers."

"Of course not," Storm laughed. "You couldn't bother anyone — you're too sweet."

Melody giggled and nodded her agreement. "And sparkly!"

"Well, you sweet sparkly girls are invited to a movie night if you'd like to come," Storm said with a laugh. "Kitty and Peter already have the candy and popcorn."

"Ooh, candy!" Celeste giggled. "Mom says candy's _important_."

"And so it is," Noh agreed with a laugh as the girls climbed back down and waited for Amadi to be set down as well so they could all rush en masse after Storm for the candy and popcorn.

They were some of the first to arrive, though Jayce already had snuggled up with Sadie and their own bowl of snacks, grinning delightedly as he invited the other girls to come join. "We got a _big _blanket!" he called out.

"Kid knows what's up," Peter chuckled to Kitty.

"Yes. Candy and popcorn," Kitty shot back.

"Candy and popcorn and all of the girls his age," Peter laughed.

"Just be careful what you wish for, husband of mine," she replied with a smile. "He's flirting with the biggest flirt their age."

"Must get it from you," he shot back with a crooked grin.

"Very likely," she said with a smirk. "Right along with his taste. Seeing as he's snuggled up with Sadie."

Peter waved his hand. "I'm not worried. K likes me."

"Yeah, but Logan doesn't."

"Meh. It balances out," Peter said, totally unconcerned.

She smiled up at him and stole a kiss. "I'll just go ahead and let you keep thinking that."

"Besides, Jayce is yours as much as he is mine. _He'll _be fine with both of 'em," Peter pointed out. "Just look at how they are with the Summers twins, and Chance is bucking for a betrothal."

"He's in first grade," she laughed outright, sliding in a little closer to rest her head on his shoulder. "He's bucking for a cupcake."

He grinned. "So whatcha worried about with Jayce?" he teased.

"Well, if he's unfortunate enough to pick up on both of our idiosyncrasies, that kid will get overly attached to the first cute girl that pays him any attention." She tipped her head at them, where Jayce was grinning at Sadie. "Case in point."

"Yeah, but I wound up with you all the same. He'll figure it out. I did," Peter pointed out with a little grin and a stolen kiss.

"Not that I made it easy on you," she said before she pulled the blanket up a little higher.

"Worth it," he said easily.

* * *

Bobby was beaming as he and Rachel got in from Boston. His parents had been _over the moon _over the idea of being grandparents, of course, though his mom did give him a hard time about taking so long to tell them. Not like Scott, of course. But it had been a good trip.

_You know they're going to want to see us all the time now, _Bobby pointed out as he leaned his head on Rachel's shoulder. "Hope you don't mind the trip from Chicago to Boston."

"Is that so bad? That they want to see you?"

"Let's get this straight: we don't exist once the little guy comes along," Bobby said.

"You really don't have much of an outlook about yourself; you know that, right?"

"I'm just pointing out ... I mean, we've seen enough kids in the mansion… parents totally get ignored for the cuddles."

"I suppose there is some truth to that, but … if you add in who the parents are, a lot of them don't want to be cuddled."

"Right. Jubes…. Kate and Kurt… Kitty and Quill…"

"Dad, Storm, Forge, Logan, K ... "

He grinned at her and kissed her. "And where do we fall?" he teased.

"I guess we'll have to wait and see," she countered. "You, the prankster, and me, the aloof and semi-serious one."

"Like you're not playing pranks right along with me," he said, shaking his head. "I can't believe you would lie to me to my face like that."

Rachel was still laughing at the grinning Bobby as they hit the kitchen for some much-needed post-trip coffee. Both Logan and K were in their usual spot with the newspaper, and Annie was pouring herself a glass of sweet tea by Scott at the coffee maker as she teased him about the hangover he was nursing for how much he'd drunk the night before. With Kurt and Kate playing with Amadi, and Storm reading some applications over her breakfast, Hank rounded out the group at the stove as he was scrambling a few eggs.

Bobby headed for the coffee, still grinning, but he didn't make it more than three steps before Scott turned his way, pulled back, and decked him again.

Logan spilled his coffee as he tried to set the mug on the table, laughing hard right off the bat, and not even attempting to cover it. K was smiling to herself, though whether it was at Scott's good form or Logan falling apart laughing — was anyone's guess.

"What the heck? Are you gonna do that every time you see me?" Bobby asked as he picked himself up.

"Apparently," Scott said, not looking the least bit sorry — though Annie looked appalled.

"Only for the next year and a half," Logan laughed, wiping the tears from his eyes at the thought of Bobby eating pavement every time they crossed paths for the next eighteen months, as Kurt started to chuckle along with his friend.

_Come on, Dad, _Rachel projected Scott's way, shaking her head, but he just shrugged at her.

_Thought I had a handle on it until he came this way, _Scott said.

_You can't just keep taking it out on him; I didn't tell you either. _

_That's not the same and you know it, _he said, and not only didn't he sound sorry, but he sounded honestly entertained — just getting more and more amused as Logan fell apart harder.

"Scott," Annie said in a sharp tone.

"It was a reflex," he said, totally honestly — and smirking.

Logan managed to pull back the full on laughter long enough to glance up and take in the scene — with Rachel and Annie giving Scott a harsh look and Scott smirking in spite of himself. It was just too much, and try as he might, he couldn't stop chuckling.

"I'm sure he'll get past it. Eventually," Kate said, grinning at the scene.

"Yeah, well, my jaw would appreciate sooner than later," Bobby grumbled.

"Aim higher next time," Logan managed through barely restrained laughter.

"I wasn't aiming," Scott replied as the smirk got wider.

"That's quite the reflex," Hank said with a chuckle of his own.

"Yeah, usually, you check for the knee kick, huh?" Kate couldn't help but add, giggling delightedly.

"Usually," he agreed, laughing a little harder at Bobby's expression.

"Don't worry; I'm sure the kids will be reviewing knee work this week," K said calmly over her mug.

Scott smirked her way. "The whole team could use a good refresher," he said straight faced.

"On blocking for sure," she agreed.

"Pop quiz every morning," Kurt added, getting more chuckles out of Logan.

"You're all hilarious," Bobby said, rolling his eyes as he poured himself some coffee.

"Gee, Bobby, I'd think you of all people would want to learn about _protection_," Kate said, perfectly wide-eyed and innocent.

At that, most of them all stopped for a moment, the kitchen silent for an instant just before all hell broke loose with the troublemakers all falling apart laughing.

_Remind me why we came back from Boston? _Bobby projected to Rachel, shaking his head at the scene.

_You know this is them coming to terms,_ Rachel told him, though even her mental voice was coming through as entertained.

Bobby chuckled and shook his head as he brought her a mug of coffee too. _Yeah, but I was kinda hoping the sucker punch response was a one-off thing. _

_I think it _was, _but … he's really not planning it. Or he wasn't. If Logan keeps laughing, he might just … I don't know. But he wasn't planning it. _

_I hate when those two are on the same page, _Bobby grumbled good-naturedly.

_Only when they're plotting against you. Which is incredibly rare._

_About to get less so, all things considered, _he replied with a smirk.

_We'll have to see how it actually pans out, but I hope it works They are really good together when they can get past their stupid. _

_Well, they had help from our resident miracle-worker, _he said with an affectionate smile as he kissed her cheek and blatantly ignored the rest of the group.

"Yes, exactly," she said quietly.

"Dunno why they didn't call you in earlier," he said, still grinning her way.

"Technically, they didn't at all," she pointed out.

He waved his hand at her. "Potato, tomato."

The breakfast group had finally started to calm down, though Logan was still smiling. Kurt still looked a little irritated Rachel and Bobby's way, but Annie had pulled Scott aside to have a few whispered _words _with him over just what she thought of him hitting a member of their family.

Though it was Kurt who approached the two of them first, teleporting over to sit next to Bobby with a serious glare on. "You know I would have performed a proper ceremony for you the moment you asked," he said.

"But you also would have spilled the beans," Bobby pointed out, icing up part of his face just to be sure.

"And you would have avoided two beat-downs," Kurt pointed out.

Bobby gave him a dry look. "This was not a beat-down. It was a sucker punch."

"You know why they call them that, right?" Logan asked, finally having gotten himself together to refill his mug. "It's 'cause only a sucker'd fall for it twice."

"It's 'cause only a sucker hits a guy who isn't ready for it," Bobby shot back.

"Does that mean you want to face off?" Logan asked, his eyes narrowed. "Because I'm telling you: not smart."

"I'm just — no." Bobby shook his head. "There was no good time to do this, alright?"

"If you say so," Logan said, shaking his head.

_Don't dig, _Rachel warned Bobby as he opened his mouth to argue.

"All of you just… stop," Annie said as she made her way over to the group. "Rachel, I'd like to throw you a shower. Everyone's different — do you want it early on or toward the due date? That will change whether it's inside or outside."

"I don't … really know?" Rachel said, totally taken off-guard.

"We'll do it a little later, then," Annie said with a nod and a genuine grin. "Then we can have some springtime sunshine instead of being all cooped up inside."

"There's the Grannie Annie grin," Kate giggled.

"Oh, is _that _what you're going with?" Bobby asked with a delighted grin.

"K suggested it," Annie said. "I love it."

"It suits you," Rachel agreed with a little nod and a smile, suddenly glad that Scott had married who he had — someone who knew how to handle heroes when they got just a little too ridiculous.


	14. This Team and Evil Grandfathers

**Chapter 14: "What Is It With This Team and Evil Grandfathers?"**

It was late on Wednesday night when Tyler came in. He was starting his residency in Chicago in the summer, so he'd be in the city before the rest of the Chicago teachers. But leading up to that, those last few weeks in Westchester were just… nuts. The hours were insane, and the workload was crazy, but once he was done with his residency, he'd be official. Dr. Tyler McCoy.

Not to mention how crazy it was at the school in Westchester… which was why he and Tammy had rented a small house in Salem Center so Tyler could get some sleep in between all of the crazy of his final year.

But it wasn't exactly the best schedule to keep up with the news on what was going on, so he arrived at the mansion and grabbed a few newspapers to catch up on what he'd missed. Congress was back in session, and it had apparently been long enough since the stupid Leslie Initiative that they were throwing around the usual rhetoric again.

_Yeah, wouldn't it be great if they started up with this crap again and barred me from the hospitals, _he thought grimly to himself as he read about the somehow-still-a-Senator Robbins and his latest tirade.

"I'm glad you're back," Tammy called out from their room. "I have to tell you about everything that's been going on in Westchester."

He grinned as he folded up the paper and headed her way. "What, this sleepy little place? Exciting?" he teased.

"Oh, well only in a roundabout way," she said with a little smirk before she wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss. "Welcome home."

"It's good to be home," he agreed. "I don't know how people who can't heal do it. I'd've collapsed of sleep deprivation a while back."

"I think most of them mainline coffee or energy drinks," she informed him with a little grin.

He laughed and nodded. "True," he had to agree, though as he put his newspaper under his arm and followed her back, he had to pause when he caught the scent on the air from the cracked window. "Oh crap," he said under his breath before he reached for the comm in their room to put the place on lockdown — and send out the text to the necessary people — before he pointedly closed the window and made sure it was locked.

"What?" Tammy frowned when she saw the look on his face.

He shook his head as he headed for the hall. "That's Sabretooth's scent," he said.

She raised both eyebrows but quickly nodded, already headed for Tristan's room to make sure if they needed to get somewhere safe, she was with him — but she froze, and Tyler did the same when he looked over her shoulder into the room to see that Sabretooth was _right there_, holding Tristan and seated perfectly comfortable with the little guy curled up asleep in his arms.

Almost immediately, and without even thinking about it, Tyler started to growl, and Tammy took a step back into him with wide eyes.

Sabretooth lifted one finger to his lips to shoosh him. "Easy now. Don't want to wake him, do you?"

"Put him down," Tyler growled out.

"Don't worry," he replied. "I don't want to keep him. Just thought I should meet him."

"His name's McCoy," Tyler said, still in that same low growl. "He's not yours."

Sabretooth chuckled low at that. "We'll see about that when he's grown."

"Just put him down," Tyler replied with his eyes narrowed. "And stay out of my family. You're not welcome here."

"What are you gonna do, pup?" He asked. "From where I'm sittin', ain't a damn thing you could do without hurtin' the kid."

"You said yourself you're not keeping him. Put him down and I'll show you," Tyler promised, his lips pulled back and barely containing the snarl.

Victor snorted at the boy's display. "Sure you will." He looked up at the two of them. "Now, back off nice and easy and I'll hand him back to his mother. If you still wanna spar, we'll take it outside. No reason for the boy to see his father get his ass kicked."

Tyler's growl just intensified at that, but he glanced toward Tammy, whose gaze was absolutely locked onto Tristan, so he let out a breath and stepped slightly back, still ready to pounce if Sabretooth tried to pull anything.

But to his surprise, Victor was perfectly gentle in handing off Tristan, then very carefully put a hand on Tammy's shoulder and gently redirected her out of the way. "Now. If you want to take this outside, I'm game. Otherwise, I'm going to leave either way."

"Settle it like civilized men?" Tyler growled.

But at that, Victor openly laughed. "Ain't never gonna happen. We'd have to lower ourselves to do that." But when Tyler didn't do more than glare at him, Victor shook his head, smiled, and just walked past him.

But that was one step too far for Tyler, and with a snarl that he wasn't bothering to hold back, he rushed toward Sabretooth, claws out as he pushed the momentum of the pounce away from Tristan's room.

He just hadn't ever fought his father alone before, and he wasn't prepared. Victor was fast, and he didn't hold back either, nearly catching Tyler and rolling with the hit. When the two of them came to a standstill, Tyler didn't get his arm drawn back all the way before Victor hit him with two fast, hard shots in the center of his chest that stole his breath and knocked him silly.

But that was about all that it did, and while Tyler had gotten in a few good scratches initially., it was clear that Sabretooth had no intention to finish him off. As soon as Tyler was gasping hard, he finished the fight with a couple more hard, full-strength hits that knocked Tyler out cold.

When Tyler opened his eyes again, it was with a startle as he focused on his _dad_ — Hank and Storm had come to see what the call for help was about, and Hank was looking at him in a most concerned manner. "What in the world were you thinking trying to fight that monster?"

Tyler shook the cobwebs out of his head and frowned toward Tristan's room. "He had Tris," he said, still with a growl to his voice that he hadn't quite been able to stop since the whole thing started.

"Did he hurt him?" Storm asked, suddenly more alarmed as she headed for Tammy.

But Tammy showed her the little boy and shook her head. "He was just… holding him," Tammy said in a nearly breathless voice.

"Show me," Storm replied, gesturing for the young woman to get into her side of the story.

Tammy just gestured into Tristan's room. "He was sitting by the crib with Tristan when we found him," she explained.

Storm started to look around the room, trying to rule out the possibility of any surveillance that might have been left behind, when she spotted an envelope sitting on the boy's dresser with a messy scrawl across it. "Was this here before?"

Tammy followed Storm and then very shakily shook her head. "No," she said, holding Tristan a little closer.

"What is it?" Tyler asked as he made his way over, with Hank still frowning at the good bruises he'd gotten.

Storm picked it up carefully and frowned at the writing before she opened it to find a sizeable stack of cash. "Money."

"I'm not touching anything he gave us," Tyler said with a glare.

"What would you like me to do with it?" Storm asked.

"I don't know," Tyler said, still frowning. "It's blood money. I don't care what you do with it."

"I'll have Kurt distribute it to a few churches," Storm decided.

"Fitting," Tammy said with a small smirk as the group of them made their way out of the room and she settled Tristan in on their bed — since she wasn't going to set him down in his room anytime soon.

It wasn't too long before Logan came in, looking livid and not saying a word to anyone as he worked through the little house, backtracking a few times and glaring in one room or another — though he didn't go in all of them. He finally stopped, took a critical look at the three of them, ignoring his teammates altogether, let out a little grumble, and hopped out of the window that Creed had obviously entered.

"Stay inside," he called over his shoulder, leaving Hank and Storm to explain why Logan was so incredibly chatty.

"It's been a long week or two," Hank said, letting his shoulders drop slightly.

"I'm sorry to hear it," Tyler said, though his gaze was on the window before he turned Hank's way. "I thought it was good? Tammy told me about Rachel?"

"Yes, that was good," Hank replied. "But the days leading up to that revelation was not nearly so good. There was an incident that I won't go into detail about, but the long and short is that a couple of old problems have reared their ugly, rather smelly heads. One of which is, of course, Sabretooth." Hank let out a deep sigh. "He very nearly killed K — and of course, Logan was not very thrilled with him over it. Threats were made on their children … he's understandably on edge."

Tyler looked livid, but Tammy just looked that much more upset as she said in her shocked, quiet tone, "But he was so gentle with Tristan."

"I assure you: had it been one of Logan's children, that would not have been the case."

"He hasn't been able to get to the school, right?" Tyler asked, concerned. "I mean, coming here is one thing…"

"Not close enough to make contact, no," Hank replied. "But he's apparently been watching them at school and, I'm sure, when they are outside."

Tyler narrowed his eyes at that and shook his head. "Maybe I should catch up with Logan…"

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Hank said. "He's trying a new tactic."

It was another half an hour before Logan returned, leisurely walking along and finishing off a cigar that he tossed before he walked up the steps. "Everyone okay?"

"Tris and Tammy are fine; I just got knocked out," Tyler said with a frown. "I take it you didn't find him?"

"Oh, I found him," Logan said. "Just stuck around long enough to let him know he wasn't worth my energy today. Got my girl to get back to."

Tyler raised both his eyebrows before he turned toward Hank. "New tactic?"

"Victor Creed does not like to be ignored," Hank said with a smirk.

"Or to be reminded that he's not the most important thing in _anyone's _world," Logan added.

"Isn't that dangerous?" Tammy asked quietly. "I mean… won't he escalate?"

Logan laughed at that. "Right. Because he's not going to escalate anyhow with me?"

"I just mean maybe it's not a good idea to make him think he has to do _more _to get your attention," she said.

"More than threaten to rip her head off?" Logan challenged.

"I'm just asking."

"It doesn't matter what I do or don't," Logan pointed out. "He's going to escalate. If I fight him, he'll keep pushing. If I don't fight him, he'll keep pushing. I'm just taking my wife's advice and not playing by his rules."

"And the rest of us have been sure to make it so he can't step foot in the mansion," Storm assured Tammy.

"This is the first that he's contacted anyone — and it was outside of the mansion," Hank added. "Though it probably would be best — just in case — to come back until K and Logan get this settled. And I might add, the amount of diabolical _giggles _coming out of that woman while she was chatting with Tony Stark this morning was disturbing."

"Yeah, I think it'd be a good idea to move back in," Tyler agreed. "I know Tammy and I aren't going to be able to sleep with Tris in that room alone anyway…"

"I'll go after you," Logan said. "You guys ride with Hank — probably safer that way."

"Thank you," Tammy said, already starting to pack a bag for Tristan.

"I'll ride shotgun with you," Tyler told Logan. "Sabretooth already showed he's not interested in hurting Tris — until his powers come in, anyway."

"Vic won't live that long," Logan said in a relaxed tone.

"Either way, I'd like to come with you," Tyler said.

"You really don't have to," Logan pointed out. "I just kicked his ass a few days ago. He's not really looking for another round. He probably had some traps out there waiting for me to walk into."

"That's real comforting," Tyler said dryly, already following Logan toward the car.

"You know he's a pain in the ass. This shouldn't be a shock."

"No," Tyler admitted. "But it was real nice not having to put up with his crap for a while there."

"Yeah, no kidding," Logan agreed. "But I should have made sure K kept her training up on him. He's not as fast as he was, but he's still a freakin' freight train."

"Yeah, I was going to ask — think you could add me to that training?" Ty asked.

"You up for it?" Logan asked with a little frown.

"Hey, Tammy and I are headed to Chicago in a few months. I'd better be up for it or this kind of crap will keep happening."

Logan nodded to himself and drew in a breath. "I can work with you. Teach you how to work against him. But you're not going to like what I have to say."

"Fine," Tyler said. "But if he's going to be coming into my kid's life like that — whatever it is, I'll do it."

Logan watched him for a moment. "Alright. You react the same way he does under pressure."

Tyler looked honestly surprised and insulted. "What?"

"You get pissed off to a certain point and then don't really go beyond it," Logan explained. "Took me a while to see it, but he does the same thing. See, if I get pissed off enough, it all tips over into a rage. Can't really stop it or hold it back." He shook his head lightly. "You two … don't really do that. Not the same way anyhow."

Tyler frowned but finally let out a breath as he thought it over. "No," he finally had to agree. "I can stop it — at least, I can now."

"You've never really lost it like I do, and honestly, neither has he," Logan told him. "He gets mad and focuses. Operates better that way. And so do I — to a point. But to get to him, you have to keep your attacks controlled. Letting your instincts get the better of you will only end up with you hurting."

"Then I've already got a leg up," Tyler pointed out. "I've never gotten to that point, like you said."

Logan nodded his head in agreement. "But he thinks that the instincts … the more animalistic the attacks ... that's what he wants. He can fight that. The minute you keep your head about you and focus on how to fight right, he loses all his focus."

Tyler nodded. "Alright. I'll just have to focus … not let him get to me."

"And learn a little better style," Logan said. "Basics that were covered in class aren't anywhere near useful against Vic."

"Fine." He paused. "My schedule's crap right now with school, by the way."

"I'm not goin' anywhere by order of Scott," Logan pointed out. "Let me know when you're free and we'll make it happen."

"Alright, I'll let you know," Tyler said, then leaned forward, rubbing his hands over his face. "I'm rusty, I'll warn you now. Been more focused on school than anything else."

"Not surprised," Logan said with a nod. "Don't feel bad. K was rusty in that fight too."

"What happened, anyway?" Tyler asked. "Hank said things have been busy the last week or so, but he didn't say why Sabretooth's back."

"Turns out he's been back for a while planning something big. He just had his plans kicked up — which is probably for our benefit, honestly. He's been watching the kids for months."

Tyler bared his teeth at that. "The kids alright?"

"Never saw him, no contact," Logan assured him. "We just had a jerk get in the middle and set up a fight between him and K. I wasn't supposed to be able to get involved, but like I said… when it all goes red …"

Tyler frowned at that but nodded all the same. "Just pisses me off that he's coming after kids now. I'm not surprised," he added quickly. "Just pissed."

Logan shook his head. "He doesn't care about the kids," he said with a little chuckle. "They're just a tool to him. He hurts one of them, he knows I won't be rational enough to focus on anything. At all. And he's not wrong. The way he had a hold of K and the crap he was saying was enough on its own."

Tyler nodded along to each word. "Yeah. You know I'm really not a fan of killing, but…"

"The line forms to the left," Logan said as he flipped on the radio. "You'll have to take a number. You got at least … oh. A dozen or so in line ahead of you."

"Yeah, I'm not signing up to do it myself; I'm just saying I won't weep when he's gone," Tyler said with a smirk.

"In that case, talk to Kate. I'm pretty sure she's plotting out one party or another anyhow."

"Isn't she always?" Tyler smirked.

"She needs to, she's got monster in law troubles again," Logan told him. "Same day. Different fight."

"Again?" Tyler frowned. "What kind of week did you guys _have_?"

"Just told you. Well. Half of it. The girls had to fight for us. Annie creamed the White Queen, Jubilee took out Warbird, Kate and K took a chunk out of Azazel, then K and I dealt with Creed. Long day."

Tyler smirked the slightest bit. "Most of that sounds like it sucks, but I'd have loved to see Annie's fight."

"K says she's been a very good student," Logan told him with a smirk. "And by all accounts, it wasn't even close."

"I'll bet it wasn't," Tyler chuckled.

"Jubes did a number to Warbird too."

"That doesn't surprise me either. Whoever was picking the fights for those two didn't know what they were doing. Winner was a given."

"They did with Kate and K," Tyler pointed out. "But they had pissed the guy off already, so I'm not surprised."

"And they've got a little more heavy-duty problems to deal with, honestly," Tyler said. "Is Azazel still an issue? Because you know I'm ordained…"

"And Kurt was a priest," Logan said. "That's not the issue."

"Yeah, I'm not sure how much it'll help when he's not a demon anymore anyway, but I thought I'd offer just in case," Tyler admitted.

"If it comes down to it, can't hurt to try," Logan agreed. "I'll hold him down. You two can pray there's anything left to identify the corpse."

Tyler smirked. "Yeah. That sounds about right." He leaned back in his seat and shook his head. "This is what happens when I leave the mansion," he chuckled under his breath.

When the two of them pulled up to a four-way stop, Logan looked over to find that the car that pulled up next to them was a familiar one. "Wave to your pain, Ty. Use just the middle finger. That's the only one he understands."

Tyler looked over and fell into a glare before he closed his eyes and shook his head, turning his attention back to Logan. "Thought you said not to stoop to his level."

"If you're not trying to claw his eyes out, you're not at his level," Logan pointed out before he turned to give Victor an obvious look of disgust and shake his head before simply driving on. "We're too close to the mansion for him to try now. Rachel's keepin' an eye on me. She'd have Kurt and Scott out here in a heartbeat if he tries."

"Nice to have backup, seeing as all I'd do it scratch him up," Tyler muttered.

"That's all I ever do," Logan deadpanned.

"Yours are a little deeper'n mine," Tyler chuckled.

"Just because you don't know how to use 'em right yet," Logan pointed out. "Might not go a full foot deep, but he's done a lot of damage articulating those damn things."

"Yeah, well, haven't had much use for practice. They'd frown on mutilating cadavers in my year, I think," Tyler said with a straight face.

"Good thing we got holograms for that."

Tyler chuckled. "Yeah, I remember." He paused. "You're not going to bring in that mohawked idiot again, are you?"

"He'll be busy," Logan told Tyler with a smirk. "Got an island crime syndicate to deal with."

"He making inroads into dismantling it at all?"

Logan did a little double take with a frown. "No," he said, shaking his head a little bit. "He's running it."

"Ah." Tyler nodded. "Yeah… that… that sounds like him. No offense."

"It's a process," Logan said. "I did it too."

"That doesn't sound like you."

"Wasn't the only one I ran either," Logan admitted.

"And here I was about to make a comment on sons being nothing like their fathers," Tyler smirked.

"I was a different person, stuck between wars with nothin' to do," Logan said.

"Yeah, yeah, but the joke just doesn't work anymore," Tyler said, grinning a little wider.

Logan matched his smirk. "No, I think it does fit," he said finally. "Seeing as most of my crap choices were wrapped around a woman. And Daken … is making his own choices."

Tyler nodded at that. "Different motivations, yeah, that'll do it." He leaned back as they reached the mansion. "I've got a few nights free before things get crazy with school again. Think we can start tomorrow?"

"Sure," Logan agreed. "As long as you don't piss off my current crime lord."

"I make it a point not to ever cross her," Tyler chuckled.

The two of them pulled up to the mansion a little ahead of Hank's car — since Tammy had taken the time to get Tristan packed away — but once everyone was in, Tyler relaxed a little, one arm around Tammy and the sleeping little kid as they headed inside to Hank and Daisy's little suite off to the side of the labs.

None of them had been expecting Daisy or Jolie to still be up at this time of night, but apparently, Jolie had woken up a little while earlier and wanted to come snuggle with Daisy before she would even think about going back to sleep — though even that small progress was out the window when she saw Tyler and wriggled to be let down, running over to him on all fours so she could be faster and then attacking his leg in a hug with delighted squeal of "Ty!"

Tyler broke into a huge grin as he bent down to scoop her up and throw her in the air. "Jo!" he called back to her in mid-air before he caught her and pulled her into a hug. "You been giving Mom a hard time?"

The little fluffball of a girl giggled and shook her head. "Noooooo."

"You sure about that?" he asked, grinning. "Tris is sleeping just fine and here you're being a goofball all night?"

She buried her face in his shoulder, giggling as her tail swayed behind her. "No," she repeated, purring all the while.

Tyler grinned that much wider and snuggled her. "Me and Tammy and Tris are gonna stay here for a while — is that alright with you?" he asked, as if he was truly concerned that she wouldn't want them to stay.

She rubbed her face on him as she nodded her head, pulling herself into a little ball. "Okay."

He grinned down at the little ball of fur and then at his mom. "I can put her to sleep; I'm still a little keyed up anyway," he said.

Daisy smiled at that and made sure to give both Tyler and Jolie a kiss on the cheek, even if Ty had to bend down for it. "Alright, but don't let her bully you into staying up all night. I know your hours are horrendous. I remember how it was."

He grinned and nodded, curling up with his little sister as Tammy followed Hank back to the rooms so she could lie down with Tristan and try to get some sleep herself after the eventful night they'd all had.


	15. Convincing Act

**Chapter 15: "Convincing Act"**

While all the adults in the mansion were busy trying to beef up security for the past few days, the elementary-aged population had been having the _best week of their lives_.

Even the oldest in the group weren't quite big enough to understand all of why their parents had decided to pull them out of school and put them through their education in the institute, but every single one of them were in favor of the change — except Charlie, who had insisted that Annie help her set up playdates with her friends (and Julian).

The rest of them, on the other hand…

"I never, ever, ever wanna go back to the _boring _school," Krissy declared that Friday evening after a full week of Annie being their new teacher. "This one is so much better — and I get to do it with my _friends_!"

"I'm glad to hear you like it, _Prinzessin_," Kurt said with a little smile as she sat on his lap so she could be closer up to tell him all about why Annie's class was the best.

"Mmhmm and Sying gets to play with us at recess even though he's learning smart things from his dad's ship," Krissy said, grinning even wider. "I think he likes having our school be in the same place as his so we can all be friends together."

"_And _karate is right next door," Chance chimed in happily as he and Charlie helped themselves to some snacks after dinner.

"And horseback riding is better than recess," Elin agreed with a little nod.

"And no mean boys!" Krissy added happily. "We get to play with Peterquill and Bobby instead!"

"Bobby's my brother now," Charlie added helpfully and proudly.

"And we all know it," Kurt said quietly with a little smirk that Elin caught and gave him a little secret smirk for as well.

"You got lots of brothers," Krissy said, wrinkling her nose.

"They're not so bad," Charlie said with a shrug. "Just loud sometimes."

"Sisters are loud too," Sying said with a grin. "Especially _two _of them."

"Yeah, sisters are loud too," Krissy agreed with a giggle. "I got both, so I know."

"I got both too," Charlie pointed out.

"We know," Elin said in an almost tired sigh.

"You got grown-up ones too," Krissy said, then turned to Elin. "So do you! You got Noh! He's your sparkle brother!"

"Sparkle pants moonbeam!" Chance sang out with a grin.

"And Jubes, and Kitty, and Daken …." Elin listed off.

"Do you get to spend time with Daken, then?" Kurt asked in as even a tone as he could pull off.

Elin shook her head lightly. "No," she said. "I've only seen him a little. He's weird."

Kurt chuckled and relaxed the slightest bit. "Yes, he is," he said with a smirk.

"He wants to know us better," Elin informed him.

"Yes, I've heard that as well."

"Come in and know me better, man!" Krissy sang out suddenly in the deepest voice she could manage, her best approximation of the way Kurt would read a _Christmas Carol_.

Kurt paused for just a moment before he burst into laughter and swept Krissy up into a hug to kiss her cheek. "My little actress," he said affectionately.

"We should have a school play," Chance decided suddenly. "We had one for Thanksgiving in first grade, and Krissy _is _an actress."

Sying looked between Chance and Krissy and immediately started to nod. "Ooh, yes. Let's do that!"

Kurt's grin was threatening to split his face at the kids' enthusiasm. "I'm sure we could find something," he said, to a chorus of little giggles and cheers.

"What's the big party for?" Kitty asked as she and Peter poked their heads into the living room, clearly having just finished a round in the Danger Room with a few of the others.

"Krissy's an actress," Chance explained with a wide grin.

"And we're gonna play!" Krissy said, bouncing in place, with her tail swishing behind her.

"Of course you are," Kitty said, though she looked past the little girl at Kurt. "How could you be anything but?"

Kurt grinned widely and shrugged. "It's a mystery," he said, which just got Kitty to roll her eyes at him.

"Yeah, a real head-scratcher."

Elin rolled her eyes at the way the other kids were excited about the idea of a play and instead left the little kids to play with the big ones. She climbed up into Peter Quill's lap and wrapped him up in a snuggle, almost tucked between him and Kitty.

"Your dad put you up to this, didn't he?" Kitty said in a low whisper when she saw the huge grin on Peter's face.

Elin blinked at her and slowly shook her head. "Why would he do that?"

"Yeah, Kitty," Peter grinned widely. "Why would he do that?"

Kitty crossed her arms and glared at both of them. "You're just feeding this," she accused Peter.

"I'm not feeding anything," he said with a falsely innocent expression. "Right, Elin?"

"Right," she said with a nod. "I miss Peterquill. You two have been gone too much."

"See?" Peter grinned at her.

Kitty shook her head but softened her expression Elin's way. "Sorry we're gone so much, Elin," she said sweetly. "We're working on making a school so there's less people around here."

"I know," she said with a little sigh, though she snuggled in a little better.

"Hey, maybe you can come on my ship for a while and see the stars," Peter offered.

"Mom says space sucks," Elin informed him.

"Your mom has adopted every single member of the team _from _space," Peter pointed out.

"Yes," Elin agreed with a very patient tone. "But _space _sucks. Dad says so too."

"Well, why don't you find out for yourself?" Peter grinned. "Sometimes space is pretty amazing. I grew up there, you know."

She narrowed her eyes the slightest. "I don't know … Maybe when I'm older."

"You're missing out," Peter laughed.

But she shook her head seriously. "No, I should know how to stab things before I go to space."

Peter leaned back as he thought about it. "Yeahhhh, that's probably a good idea," he admitted, then grinned. "When do you think that'll be?"

She shrugged up both shoulders. "I don't know?"

"We'll figure it out," Peter said with a shrug before he kissed the top of her head. "Now… how 'bout we go find Bobby and see if we can spot another punch?"

"Okay," she said. "Ice cream?"

"For sure," he agreed, sweeping her up to put her on his shoulders as Kitty shook her head at everyone.

* * *

Things were finally starting to get into a more "normal" schedule for the most part as the kids got used to their new school routine and everyone else tried to recover as best they could from everything that had happened — though "normal" was a relative term.

For Kate, that meant meeting up with Kamala while their respective boys were watching the kids so they could go to an awards show. Kamala's movies were always a hit and had been getting nominations since she'd started, really.

The two girls arrived to the show in a long black limousine, Kamala in red and Kate in purple, arm-in-arm and grinning as they made their way down the red carpet.

"I bet Miles is glad for the excuse to stay away from the flashing bulbs," Kate said to her friend as they stopped for a few press pictures.

"Yeah, that and he's totally addicted to Bashir time," Kamala giggled. "What did we do for entertainment before him?"

"Right?" Kate laughed and shook her head. "Kurt's been teaching ours how to be dramatic little actors."

"Great; they can star in my movies," Kamala teased.

Kate laughed harder at the visual as the two of them stuck close together, and Kamala graciously signed several autographs of fans outside the venue before the show was set to start — she could never, _ever _resist the chance to sign a book. Or twelve.

Kate had a little harder time, though, as her MRD-based movie was set to come out that summer. It was just a few months away, so the production team had scheduled a trailer and poster release to air during the commercials of the awards, and the hopes were high from the production team — as was the tension.

"What do you say to people calling this movie retaliation?" asked a reporter who had somehow managed to slip past Kamala and Kate's united front while Kamala was signing things.

"I'd say check the publishing dates; the book this movie is based off of came out forever ago," Kate said immediately — it was practically a rote response at this point.

"And it was out for years before you decided to make a movie," the reporter pressed. "Isn't that a little hard to swallow?"

"This is the same industry that started asking Tony Stark for the rights to an Iron Man movie two seconds after he started flying around in that suit," Kate shot back. "No, it isn't hard to swallow. You tell the story that's out there."

"And what do you tell people who say this is politically-motivated?"

"Of course it is!" Kate said, annoyed now. "Everything has a slant. Everybody's got an opinion. That's what makes books and movies so interesting to watch; everyone's got a story and a side and a message." She shook her head. "You're trying to stir up drama, but all I want to do is tell a story that nobody has told. That's the whole point."

"Wouldn't you say—"

"Look, I can stand here and argue with you all day, but I promised my friend I wouldn't leave her to the wolves, so you're just going to have to ask someone else the same questions and hope to get a story out of it," Kate said as she sidestepped the reporter and pointedly made her way over to snag Kamala's arm. "You totally ditched me," she whispered.

Kamala looked up in surprise and then made a little 'o' shape with her mouth. "Sorry!"

"It's fine," Kate assured her. "Let's just get inside before I get mobbed again. It's only going to be worse after the show when the trailer's dropped."

"I can just go big and step around the whole crowd," Kamala offered, and Kate laughed at that.

"No, we'll just 'no comment' and point 'em to the prepared statement and release all the way to the limo," Kate said. "If I pull an escape, they'll say I was hiding from questions."

"You know, I kind of like the problems where you can just … stop a bad guy and the problem's solved," Kamala said with a sigh.

"You and me both," Kate agreed as the two women found their seats for all the pomp and circumstance to really get rolling.

As Kate had expected, Kamala got to take the stage with the cast of her latest movie, and Kate was sure she was never going to get tired of the huge, disbelieving, beaming smile that Kamala always wore whenever she had any success like that. Kate cheered and clapped harder than anyone around her until Kamala was back in her seat and then made it a point to give her friend a big hug.

"You're a natural at this," she promised Kamala, who flushed with pleasure.

"I'm really not."

"Sure you are — the whole place loves you," Kate promised, pointing out the cameras in the room and how many were trained on them. "You're just as much a movie star as the movie stars in this place."

Kamala flushed again and grinned. "Thanks, Kate."

"Hey, I speak only the truth," Kate told her seriously as the two of them leaned back to enjoy the rest of the evening.

The rest of the awards show was a lot of clapping and speeches, of course, but it was the 'after' that the girls were concerned about. Both of them had declined several party invitations in favor of getting back home to the men in their lives, but that didn't mean they were off the hook quite yet. They still had to wade through the press to get there — and of course, Kate's MRD movie had dropped a trailer that was as scathing in its takedown of the MRD as it was possible to be on cable television.

"Kate! Is your company prepared for the backlash against the movie?"

"Kate! What do you say to people who claim you're just using your company as a vehicle to advance the X-Men's agenda?"

"Kate! Is there any truth to the rumors that the movie actors are getting threats over their participation?"

"Kate! What do you say to critics who say the film is political and has no real story value?"

But as Kate had told Kamala they were going to do, the two women kept their heads down as they brushed past the reporters and the questions. "Read the release, guys!" Kate called over her shoulder. "It's beautiful; I wrote it myself!"

The questions kept up right until Kate and Kamala got to the limo, and then once the limo pulled away from the curb, both women glanced at each other and burst into laughter. "Don't you just want to hit them sometimes?" Kate laughed.

"Hey, I have the power to just scoop them all up at once and set them on a roof somewhere. This is some serious self-control. You should be impressed," Kamala pointed out, giggling as well.

The two women were laughing and enjoying the afterglow of the evening when the car lurched to the left and then accelerated wildly the other way, nearly unseating both of them.

Kamala and Kate glanced at each other and both immediately switched from the lighthearted laughter to a more serious expression as Kate rapped on the separation between the back and front. "You alright, Joey?" she called up to him.

But Joey didn't answer, and the ride simply got more and more erratic. Things were jostling loose, tires were squealing, and Kate found that the divide between the front and back wouldn't budge.

While Kate tried to hang on — and figure out who was driving, since Joey was probably the safest driver she knew — Kamala worked to try to open the top, despite the fact that someone had jammed it shut. The blackened windows of the car were supposed to give them privacy from the press but now were just proving to be an annoyance. Not only could they not tell where they were going but also no one would see in even if they weren't tipped off by the erratic driving.

Kamala let out a little "aha" noise as she finally got the top unjammed, but the second she started to move it, the car slammed to a stop, and she went tumbling backwards into Kate as one side of the car tipped over the other.

Both women were badly dazed by the crash, but as soon as they had their wits about them, they started to climb, pulling at the opening Kamala had unjammed until the top of the limo came loose and they were both able to shimmy their way out of the wreckage.

Though that was the least of their problems, they both quickly found, as the second the two of them climbed out and hit the ground, they heard the unmistakable sound of several guns and both glanced up to see that they were more or less surrounded by men with their weapons aimed at the two girls.

"Okay. This looks bad," Kate said under her breath.

There wasn't much time to do anything about it, though, and when the men surrounding them raised their guns, both Kate and Kamala flinched when the gunfire rang out — though when neither of them were shot, both of them opened their eyes again, glanced at each other, and then at the men who were now lying dead in the streets.

"What the heck?" Kamala muttered.

"A gift," a man's voice rang out. "From the Kingpin."

"Wouldn't put it past him to stage it," Kate muttered darkly, though as she crouched down beside the men to find that they were all, apparently, that stupid Friends of Humanity crowd, she had to pause. Considering everything her company was doing, it really wasn't that unlikely that they'd come after her. "Some gift," she said as she got to her feet. "Nearly got us killed."

"Stopped you from getting killed," the same voice corrected. "Now, ladies, if you would. Your car seems beyond use at the moment." He gestured to the new limo that was pulling up. "I'd hate to see you stranded."

"Real convenient that you just had one of those nearby," Kate said with a little glare Wesley's way. "I'm _not _thanking your boss for a staged accident and rescue."

"We _always _have back-ups for our back-ups," Wesley replied in his usual smooth tone. "Don't you do the same?"

"It's just good business practice to have contingency plans," she replied, matching his tone. "Mine involves a teleporter, but I appreciate the care and planning that goes into yours when you can't instantly transport."

He looked around them pointedly. "I don't see a teleporter tonight — or is that something you can keep in your pocket?"

"Usually, but the crash busted my phone," she grumbled, half to Kamala just because she was annoyed about it.

"As I said," he repeated, turning toward the limo. "Back-ups for the back-ups. Please. It's not right to leave you stranded."

"That's very chivalrous, but I think we'll walk," Kate said with her arm through Kamala's.

Wesley raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm afraid that would go against my directions to help you avoid embarrassing interactions with the press. And seeing as you and Miss Khan are both a little banged up … it might be wise to let us simply get you to your hotel. I will ride in a different car; the driver will take you wherever you want to go."

Kate bit her lip hard and glanced over at Kamala, who looked like she was ready to fight if Kate gave the word, before she let out a sigh. "Fine," she said at last, still holding onto Kamala; she simply didn't trust the situation, though she did in fact slide into the limo that Wesley had for them.

"Kate…" Kamala said, but Kate shook her head.

"I'll explain later."

"Later," as it turned out, wasn't until well after they got to their hotel and Kate had used the hotel phone to call the mansion — though since she wouldn't put it past Fisk to bug the thing, she just told Scott when he answered the phone that she and Kamala were partied out and ready to come home but they'd had a little car trouble along the way.

In fact, it wasn't until Kurt had arrived and brought them both back to Kamala and Miles' place that Kate even began to offer anything like an explanation, though she started out with, "Sorry about that, Kamala. That guy is a gigantic pain."

"Yeah, he seemed like it."

"No, that's just the manservant," Kate said, waving one hand. "Kingpin's been after me since I got all of my dad's money. He used to control millions of dollars with my dad, and now that I'm worth billions, he'd like to have that control back, so he tries to push me around. He and his friends hired an assassin to kill me one time, too. It's been going on for years."

"Oh." Kamala looked wide-eyed at the explanation.

"What happened?" Kurt asked with a frown and one hand on Kate's shoulder as she sat down heavily — dealing with Fisk always wore her out more than anyone else just because there were so many layers to his stupid games.

"We're going to have to try to find Joey," Kate said. "They replaced the limo driver and crashed the car, and Kingpin staged an entire rescue from some Friends of Humanity creeps. But honestly, I'm sure they were probably authentic and thought they were just getting a good crack at the anti-MRD movie lady," she said, pointing at her own face.

"It was definitely a setup," Kamala offered. "I mean, they had a spare limo ready and waiting and everything."

"I broke my phone," Kate added, pulling the shattered device out of her pocket. "Or I'd have just called you."

There was an exasperated sigh as he ran his hand through his hair. "And your comm?"

"It… didn't go with the dress?" she offered lamely. "It was in my purse, if that makes you feel any better. I just couldn't _get _to the purse in the wrecked car. I still had it _on _me. Sort of."

"That really doesn't help matters," he pointed out. "But it's not the first I've heard of a wrecked comm."

"Yeah, well, mine's not an excuse," she said with a little playful smirk. "I think he does it on purpose."

"Sometimes he does; sometimes it's an honest mishap," Kurt replied with a little smile. "Either way, a poor role model for proper comm protection."

"Yeah, I'll start wearing one in, like, a small of the back or thigh holster or something, I swear. I never want another Fisk limo ride again."

"Only if I can help you put it in place," he teased.

"Oh definitely," she agreed, breaking into a smile.

"Alright, you two go flirt somewhere that's not my living room," Kamala said with a wave of both her hands. "Come on."

"It's not like you haven't seen it before," Kurt pointed out. "And we're just _talking_."

"Yeah, don't get ideas," Kamala laughed. "Good night. Try not to come back with Elfling the Fourth next time I see you."

"No, we'll leave that to you," Kate teased as she slid her arm around Kurt's back and, before Kamala could object to the implication, she and Kurt disappeared in a poof of blueish purple.

After all, they had plenty of success to celebrate, no matter how Fisk tried to rain on the parade.

* * *

**A/N: This is the last chapter of this volume, so go ahead and skip over to Canucklehead Cowgirl's profile for "Badge of Red!"**


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